1 1  inn  in  i 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OF 


Paul  Scharrenberg 


ALFRED    FUHRMAN 

^  ^~  ->  vf?v.  A  v.i,  AW 

JUL   1  6  1923 

SAN 


ALFRED    FUHRMAN 


1  6  1923 


MISSION  SIKEET 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


Great    Americans    of    History 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON 

A  CHARACTER  SKETCH 


BY 

EDWARD  S.  (JELLIS,  A.   M. 

AUTHOR     OF 

he   People's  Standard   History  of  the  United  States,"  "The  Eclectic   Primary   Historv 
•    of  the  United  States,"  etc. 


WITH    AN    KSSAY    ON    THE    PATRIOT    BY 

G.     MERCER     ADAM 

Late  Editor  of  "Self  Culture"   Magazine,  Etc.,  Etc. 


The  Unusual  and  Remarkable  in  The  Life  of  Alexander  Hamilton 

BY 

B.  J.  CIGRAND,  M.  S.,  D.  D.  S. 

Author  "History  of  American  Emblems." 

TOGETHER    WITH 

ANECDOTES,   CHARACTERISTICS,  AND  CHRONOLOGY 


UNION  SCHOOL  IT'RNiSHING  COMPANY, 
CHICAGO. 


GREAT  AMERICANS  OF  HISTORY  SERIES. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  by  Edward  S. 
Ellis,  A.  M..  Author  of  "The 
People's  Standard  History  of  the 
United  States,"  etc.  With  Sup 
plementary  Essay  by  G.  Mercer 
Adam.  Late  Editor  of  "Self-Cult 
ure"  Magazine,  with  an  Account 
of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  to 
gether  with  Anecdotes,  Charac 
teristics,  Chronology  and  Say 
ings. 

JAMES  OTIS,  by  John  Clark  Kid- 
path,  LL.  D..  Author  of  "Kid- 
path's  History  of  the  United 
States."  etc.  With  Supplemen 
tary  Essay  by  G.  Mercer  Adam, 
Late  Editor  of  '  Self-Culture" 
Magazine;  together  with  Anec 
dotes,  Characteristics,  and  Chro 
nology. 

JOHN  HANCOCK,  by  JolmK.  Musick, 
Author  of  "The  Columbian  His- 
tori.  al  Novels,"  etc.  With  Sup 
plementary  Essay  by  G.  Mercer 
Adam,  Late  Editor  of  "Self-Cul 
ture"  Magazine;  together  with 
Anecdotes,  Characteristics,  and 
Chronology 

SAMUEL  ADAMS,  by  Samuel  Fallows, 
1).  D.,  LL.  D.,  Ex-Snpt.  of  Pub 
lic  Instruction  of  Wiscons;n; 
Ex-Pres.  Illinois  W  sleyan  Uni 
versity.  With  Supplementary 
Essay  by  G.  Mercer  Adam,  Late 
Editor  of  "Self-Culture"  Maga 
zine;  together  with  Anecdotes, 
Characteristics, and  Chronology. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  by  Frank 
Strong,  Ph.  D.,  Lecturer  on 
United  States  History,  Yale  Uni 
versity,  New  Haven,  Conn.  With 
Supplemental  Essay  by  G.  Mercer 
Adam,  Late  Editor  of  "  Self-Cul 
ture"  Magazine,  etc.,  and  a 
Character  Study  by  Prof.  Charles 
K.  Edmunds,  Ph.D.  ,ot  Johns  Hop 
kins  University;  together  with 
Anecdotes,  Characteristics,  and 
Chronology. 

JOHN  ADAMS,  by  Samuel  Willard. 
LL.  D.,  Author  of  '-Synopsis  of 
History."  etc.  With  Supplemen 
tary  Essay  by  G.  Mercer  Adam, 
Late  Editor  of  "Self-Culture" 
Magazine;  together  with  Anec 
dotes.  Characteristics,  and  Chro 
nology. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON,  by  Edward 
S.  Ellis,  A.M.,  Author  of  "The 
People's  Standard  History  of  the 
United  States."  f  to.  With  Sup 
plementary  Es«ay  by  G.  Mercer 
Adam,  Late  Kclitor  of  "Self-Cul 
ture"  Magazine,  etc  ;  together 
with  Anecodotes,  Charact  ris- 
tics,and  Chronology. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  by  Eugene 
Parsons,  Ph.  D.,  Lecturer  on 
American  History,  etc.  With 
Supplementary  Essay  by  G.  Mer 
cer  Adam,  Late  Kditor  of  -'Self- 
Culture"  Magazine;  and  an  Ar 
ticle  by  Prof.  Henry  Wade 
Rogers,  LL.  D.,  of  Yale  Univer 
sity;  together  with  Anecdotes, 
Characteristics,and  Chronology. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH,  by  Richard  Heath 
Dabney,  M.  A..  Ph.  D.,  Professor 
of  History,  University  of  Vir 
ginia.  With  Supplementary 
Essay  by  G.  Mercer  Adam,  Late 
Editor  of  "Self  Culture  '  Maga 
zine;  together  with  Anecdotes, 
Characteristics,  and  Chronology. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER,  by  Elizabeth  A. 
Reed,  A.  M.,  L.  H.  D.,  Ex-Pres. 
Illinois  Woman's  Press  Associa 
tion.  With  Supplementary  Es 
say  by  G.  Mercer  Adam.  Late  Edi 
tor  of  "Self-Culture"  Magazine; 
together  with  Anecdotes,  Char 
acteristics,  and  Chronology. 

HENRY  CLAY,  by  H.  W.  Caldwell, 
A.  M.,  Ph.  B.,  Professor  of  Ameri 
can  History.  University  of  Ne 
braska.  With  Supplementary 
Essay  by  G.  Mercer  Adam,  Late 
Editor  01'  "Self-Culture"  Maga 
zine;  together  with  Ancedotes, 
Characteristics,  and  Chronology. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  by  Robert  Dick 
inson  Sheppard,  D.  D. ,  Professor 
of  American  and  English  His 
tory,  Northwestern  University. 
With  Supplementary  Essay  by  G. 
Mercer  Adam,  Late  Editor  of 
"Self-Culture"  Magazine,  etc., 
also  Suggestions  from  the  Life 
of  Lincoln  by  Prof.  Francis  W. 
Shepardson,  Ph.  D.,  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  Chicago.  Together 
with  Anecdotes,  Characteristics, 
and  Chronology 


Copyright,  1899, 
By    THE    UNIVERSITY    ASSOCIATION 

Copyright,  190*, 
By    H.    G.    CAMPBELL    PUBLISHING    CO. 


EDUC.- 

PSYCH. 

:  IBRARY 


GIFT 


THE  precocity  of  Alexander  Hamilton  approached  the 
marvelous.  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  and  others  give 
the  date  of  his  birth  as  January  n,  1757,  but  Bancroft 
makes  it  earlier.  The  distinguished  historian  thought 
it  incredible  that  the  brilliant  mind  of  Hamilton  should 
have  matured  so  early.  His  name  appears  as  a  witness 
on  a  deed  written  in  1766,  when,  if  the  date  named  for 
his  birth  be  accepted,  he  was  only  nine  years  old,  and 
yet,  as  Mr.  Lodge  demonstrates,  the  evidence  is  convinc 
ing  that  such  was  the  fact. 

His  birthplace  was  the  island  Nevis,  one  of  the  British 
West  Indies.  His  father  is  said  to  have  been  a  Scotch 
merchant.  A  good  deal  of  mystery  surrounds  his  family 
and  early  youth. 

Born  in  that  tropical  region,  the  brain  of  this  wonder 
ful  youth  flowered  with  the  amazing  swiftness  of  the 
vegetation  around  him.  At  the  age  of  twelve,  when'  a 
clerk  in  a  store,  his  letters  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Edward 
Stevens,  were  those  of  a  philosophical  instructor.  Short 
ly  after  he  was  given  charge  of  his  employer's  affairs 
and  managed  them  well,  studying  and  writing  as  oppor 
tunity  presented.  Soon  his  astonishing  talents  led  his 
relatives  to  send  him  to  the  American  colonies  to  be  ed 
ucated. 


<5  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

He  arrived  in  Boston,  in  the  autumn  of  1772,  and 
went  to  New  York,  where  the  letters  he  bore  from  Dr. 
Knox,  a  clergyman  of  Nevis,  procured  good  and  wise 
friends.  Entering  a  well  known  grammar  school  at  Eli- 
zabethtown,  New  Jersey,  he  studied  with  the  intense  en 
ergy  that  characterized  everything  he  did.  His  fiery 
brain  led  him  to  write  a  great  deal,  both  of  prose  and 
verse,  and  much  of  it  betrayed  marked  talent.  It  took 
but  a  short  time  for  him  to  prepare  for  college.  He 
would  have  gone  to  Princeton,  had  he  been  permitted  to 
advance  as  fast  as  his  inclination  prompted.  Following 
his  impatient  bend,  he  entered  King's  (now  Columbia) 
College  in  New  York,  and,  aided  by  a  private  tutor,  he 
progressed  with  astonishing  rapidity  in  his  studies. 

The  American  colonies  were  then  on  the  verge  of  re 
volt  against  England.  The  greatest  minds  in  the  coun 
try  were  grappling  with  the  momentous  question,  and  it 
took  Hamilton  but  a  brief  while  to  range  himself  with 
his  impetuous  energy  on  the  side  of  his  adopted  country. 
New  York  was  under  the  domination  of  the  Tories,  her 
Assembly  being  pronounced  supporters  of  the  home  gov 
ernment.  With  a  view  of  bringing  her  into  the  right 
column,  a  mass  meeting  was  held  in  the  fields  July  6, 
1774,  by  the  patriot  leaders.  Among  those  present  was 
the  boy  Hamilton.  He  listened  with  rapt  interest  to  the 
addresses,  and  burned  with  impatience  at  their  luke- 
warmness.  Unable  to  repress  his  feelings,  he  threaded 
his  way  to  the  platform,  and  launched  out  in  a  patriotic 
address  that  held  his  hearers  spell-bound.  His  master 
ful  oration  drew  attention  to  him,  and  some  time  after- 


ALKXANDKR    HAMILTON.  7 

ward  he  was  approached  with  offers  from  the  Tory  side, 
but  all  were  spurned.  It  may  be  said  that  he  began  his 
public  life  at  that  time.  In  the  following  December,  he 
put  forth  his  first  political  writing,  "A  Full  Vindication," 
in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet  which  was  a  reply  to  Tory 
criticism  on  the  Continental  Congress. 

This  pamphlet  was  soon  followed  by  another  "The 
Farmer  Refuted,1'  both  of  which  attracted  wide  attention 
and  exerted  marked  influence.  As  an  evidence  of  the 
author's  statesmanlike  grasp,  these  sentences  may  be 
quoted  in  the  argument  against  the  insistence  that  Par 
liament  had  the  unlimited  right  to  legislate  for  the  colo 
nies: 

"All  men  have  one  common  origin:  they  participate 
in  one  common  nature,  and  consequently  have  one  com 
mon  right.  No  reason  can  be  advanced  why  one  man 
should  exercise  any  power  or  pre-eminence  over  his  fel 
low-creatures,  unless  they  have  voluntarily  vested  him 
with  it.  Since  then,  Americans  have  not,  by  any  act  of 
theirs,  empowered  the  British  Parliament  to  make  laws 
for  them,  it  follows  they  can  have  no  just  authority  to 
do  it. 

uThe  Parliament  claims  a  right  to  tax  us  in  ail  cases 
whatsoever;  its  late  acts  are  in  virtue  of  that  claim.  How 
ridiculous,  then,  it  is  to  affirm  that  we  are  quarreling  for 
the  trifling  sum  of  three  pence  a  pound  on  tea,  when  it 
is  evidently  the  principle  against  which  we  contend." 

In  appealing  to  the  natural  rights  of  man,  he  used 
these  impressive  words: 

'4The  sacred  rights  of  mankind  are  not  to  be  rumaged 


8  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

for,  among  old  parchments  or  musty  records.  They  are 
written,  as  with  a  sunbeam,  in  the  whole  volume  of  hu 
man  nature  by  the  hand  of  Divinity  itself. ' ' 

These  pamphlets  were  variously  attributed  to  promi 
nent  patriot  leaders,  and,  when  it  became  known  that 
the  boyish  Hamilton  was  the  author,  the  admiration  was 
unbounded.  He  was  already  a  leader  in  the  cause  of 
American  independence.  But  Professor  Anson  D.  Morse 
shows  that  while  the  latter  words  have  a  democratic  ring, 
they  are  not  peculiarly  American,  but  express  universal, 
rather  than  American  democratic  principles  and  might 
have  been  uttered  by  a  Frenchman.  Hamilton  was  not 
in  reality  quarreling  with  the  aristocratic  institutions  of 
Great  Britain,  but  with  her  policy. 

The  pressure  forced  New  York  into  the  Congress; 
the  Revolution  opened  and  Hamilton  for  a  time  contin 
ued  his  battles  for  his  country  through  the  newspapers. 
The  sentiment  for  independence  rapidly  crystallized,  and 
when  the  New  York  convention  ordered  the  raising  of  a 
company  of  artillery,  Hamilton  applied  for  the  command. 
To  some  it  looked  like  presumption  on  the  part  of  the 
youth,  but  his  examination  was  so  brilliant  that  the  com 
mand  was  promptly  given  to  him.  He  rapidly  gained 
recruits  and  spent  the  last  dollar  he  received  from  home 
on  the  equipment  of  his  company.  He  was  alert,  active, 
patriotic,  ambitious,  aglow  with  enthusiasm,  and  his 
magnetic  personality  seemed  to  carry  everything  before 
it.  He  was  too  serious,  too  intensely  in  earnest  to 
slight  any  detail. 

He    drilled    his  company   unceasingly   until  its  skill 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


and  discipline  attracted  the  notice  of  his  superi 
ors.  General  Nathaniel  Greene,  the  officer  second  in 
ability  to 
Washington, 
was  so  much 
pleased  with 
the  splendid 
troop  that  he 
sought  out 
the  young 
captain. 

Greatly  im 
pressed  by  his 
ability,  he  in 
troduced  him 
to  Washing 
ton.  Hamil 
ton  never  for 
got  the  kind 
ness  of  the 
Quaker  gen 
eral,  whom  he 
rated  as  the 

first  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  The  artillery  com 
pany  and  its  commander  soon  proved  their  worth.  The 
mistake  of  General  Putnam  precipitated  the  disaster  on 
L/ong  Island,  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  i  776,  but  du 
ring  the  retreat  of  the  American  forces,  Hamilton  covered 
the  rear  with  a  courage  and  sagacity  that  received  the 
praise  of  Washington.  The  smoke  of  battle  roused  the 


Major-General  Nathaniel  Greene. 
Born  1742.     Died  1786. 


The  First  Meeting  of  Washington  and  Hamilton. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  n 

fiery  patriotism  of  the  young  West  Indian.  None  fought 
more  bravely  than  he  on  the  retreat  up  the  Hudson,  and, 
when  Fort  Washington  fell,  he  volunteered  to  recapture 
it  by  storm,  but  the  Commander-in-chief  would  not  per 
mit  him  to  undertake  the  hopeless  task.  Then,  as  all 
know,  followed  the  frightful  retreat  through  New  Jersey, 
where  the  grim  Continentals  crimsoned  the  snow  with 
the  blood  from  their  naked  feet.  Hamilton  was  fore 
most  among  the  heroes  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  by 
which  time  only  twenty-five  men  were  left  of  his  artil 
lery  men.  His  courage,  skill  and  reputation  as  a  brill 
iant  writer  caused  Washington  to  appoint  him  as  one 
of  his  aides  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  This 
appointment  was  made  March  i,  1777,  before  Hamilton 
was  twenty-one  years  old. 

While  the  change  of  station  was  the  best  thing  for  him, 
he  was  not  satisfied  with  it.  That  he  possessed  military 
abilities  of  a  high  order  had  been  proven.  None  felt  this 
more  than  Hamilton  himself.  He  believed  that  a  bril 
liant  career  was  before  him.  He  always  had  enormous 
self-confidence,  and  was  certain  that  if  he  remained  in 
line,  there  was  scarcely  a  rank  beyond  his  reach. 

Whether  or  not  Hamilton  possessed  the  genius  of  a 
great  general,  must  always  remain  conjecture,  for  he  was 
never  put  to  the  supreme  test,  but  assuredly  he  would 
have  attained  high  station,  though  his  youth  must  have 
stopped  him  at  a  point  which  he  might  have  passed,  had 
he  been  a  score  of  years  older. 

He  proved  an  invaluable  aid  to  Washington,  whose 
correspondence  was  enormous,  beside  which,  he  acquitted 


12  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

himself  well  in  the  subsequent  battles  at  all  of  which  he 
was  present.  Some  of  the  admirers  of  Hamilton  would 
give  him  the  whole  credit  for  the  various  important  pa 
pers  which  issued  from  headquarters,  while  he  was  act 
ing  as  secretary.  That  he  wras  vigorous,  brilliant  and 
gifted  cannot  be  questioned,  and  he  w^as  vastly  helpful  to 
the  Commander-in-chief;  but,  as  Lodge  points  out,  the 
central  ideas,  and  guiding  principles  of  the  documents 
were  always  Washington's  while  Hamilton  merely  pol 
ished  and  adorned.  The  momentous  "Yes"  or  uXoM  was 
uttered  by  the  commander,  and  the  secretary  clothed  the 
word  in  fitting  sentences.  Washington  gave  full  credit 
to  his  aide,  whom  he  appreciated,  but  nothing  can  de 
tract  from  the  grandeur  of  that  peerless  Patriot,  without 
whom,  the  struggle  for  independence  would  have  ended 
ere  it  had  hardly  begun. 

Despite  the  impatient  temper  of  Hamilton,  he  dis 
played  exquisite  tact  and  discretion  while  in  the  service 
of  his  chief.  He  secured  the  needed  reinforcements  from 
Gates,  when  that  officer  was  puffed  with  conceit  over  the 
brilliant  victory  won  for  him, by  his  generals  and  soldiers 
at  Saratoga.  He  required  the  most  delicate  handling, 
and  the  skill  of  Hamilton  could  not  have  been  surpassed. 
He  could  be  curt  and  imperious  with  Putnam,  who  need 
ed  such  treatment,  and  sympathetic  as  a  woman  with  the 
stricken  wife  of  Benedict  Arnold. 

One  day  in  February,  1781,  Hamilton  was  tardy  in 
responding  to  a  call  from  Washington.  The  great  man 
gently  chided  and  reminded  him  that  to  keep  him  wait 
ing  was  a  mark  of  disrespect.  The  secretary  bridled  up: 


General  Israel  Putnam. 
Born  1718.  Died  1790. 


14  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

"I  am  not  conscious  of  it,  sir;  but  since  you  have  thought 
it,  we  part." 

Nothing  is  more  absurd  than  to  dignify  this  little  affair 
with  the  name  of  a  quarrel.  It  took  a  great  deal  to  rouse 
the  tempestuous  wrath  of  Washington,  but  when  it  once 
flamed  into  life,  it  swept  everything  before  it.  The 
wretched  being  who  was  its  victim  was  crushed,  silent 
and  helpless.  Those  who  saw  Washington  when  he  con 
fronted  the  retreating  L,ee  at  Monmouth,  remembered  the 
terrific  scene  to  the  end  of  their  lives.  When  St.  Clair, 
who  had  disregarded  the  solemn  warnings  of  President 
Washington,  and  was  overwhelmed  as  a  consequence  by 
the  western  Indians,  came  into  the  presence  of  the  great 
man  months  afterward,  it  was  with  fear  and  trembling, 
for  he  dreaded  the  lightning  outburst.  But  there  was  no 
anger  shown  by  Washington  toward  his  secretary.  On 
the  one  hand  was  the  commander,  tall,  massive,  grand, 
calm,  unruffled,  in  the  pride  of  his  mental  and  physical 
perfection;  on  the  other,  the  swarthy,  brilliant  and  pep 
pery  youth,  with  a  mighty  good  opinion  of  himself,  as 
was  warranted. 

No  more  unerring  judge  of  men  than  Washington  ever 
lived.  He  must  have  smiled  at  the  conduct  of  the  young 
man,  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  did  not  forget  his  value. 
Magnanimous  at  all  times,  he  made  advances  to  Hamil 
ton,  who  repelled  them.  None  the  less,  the  Commander, 
foreseeing  the  inestimable  services  he  was  likely  to  ren 
der  his  country,  retained  his  deep  interest  in  him  to  the 
end.  At  Yorktown,  he  gave  Hamilton  the  coveted  priv 
ilege  of  leading  an  assault  upon  one  of  the  outworks  of 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


of  the  enemy.  Such  was  his  dash  that  he  completed  his 
work  much  more  quickly  than  the  French  force  which 
undertook  and  accomplished  a  similar  task. 

With  this  brilliant  exploit,  Hamilton  terminated  his 
military  career.  The  independence  of  his  country  hav 
ing"  been  attain 
ed,  he  gave  his 
energies  to  the 
pursuits  of 
peace.  Despite 
the  great  milita 
ry  ability  he  had 
shown,  he  was 
a  born  states 
man.  He  prov 
ed  that,  when 
a  boy  at  King's 
College,  and  in 
the  swirl  and 
rush  of  battle, 
his  thoughts 
turned  to  ques 
tions  of  govern 
ment.  He  fore 
saw  that  the  real 
peril  of  the 
country  would  come  after  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed. 
A  common  danger  held  the  thirteen  colonies  together 
and  when  that  was  removed,  they  would  fall  apart 
and  crumble  to  fragments.  In  September,  1780,  he 


Hamilton  leading  the  Assault  at  Yorktown. 

Relief  on  one  of  the  Bronze  Doors  of  the  Capitol, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


16  «      ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

wrote  a  letter  to  James  Duane,  a  member  of  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  in  which  he  gave  his  views  uof  the  de 
fects  of  our  present  system,  and  the  changes  nece*ssary 
to  save  us  from  ruin."  The  fundamental  defect  he 
declared,  lay  in  the  want  of  power  in  Congress,  and 
this  was  due  to  three  causes: 

uAn  excess  of  the  spirit  of  liberty,  which  has  made  the 
particular  states, show  a  jealousy  of  all  power  not  in  their 
own  hands, — and  this  jealousy  had  led  them  to  exercise 
a  right  of  judging  in  the  last  resort,  of  the  measures  rec 
ommended  by  Congress,  and  of  acting  according  to  their 
own  opinions  of  their  propriety  or  necessity;  a  diffidence, 
in  Congress,  of  their  own  powers,  by  which  they  have 
been  timid  and  indecisive  in  their  resolutions,  constantly 
making  concessions  to  the  states,  till  they  have  scarcely 
left  themselves  the  shadow  of  power;  a  want  of  sufficient 
means  at  their  disposal  to  answer  the  public  exegencies." 

Previous  to  this  he  wrote  an  anonymous  letter  to  Rob 
ert  Morris,  treating  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  coun 
try,  in  which  he  gave  proofs  of  his  wonderful  genius, 
which  has  never  been  surpassed  anywhere.  The  worth 
less  currency  was  a  greater  peril  to  the  cause  of  indepen 
dence  than  the  arms  of  the  British.  Hamilton  proposed 
to  provide  for  a  gradual  contraction,  by  a  tax  in  kind, 
and  a  foreign  loan,  which  was  to  form  the  basis  of  a  na 
tional  bank.  The  last  was  meant  to  bring  together  the 
interests  of  the  moneyed  classes  in  the  support  of  the 
government  credit.  Hamilton  wrought  out  all  the  de 
tails,  and  his  future  policy  crystallized  in  his  brain. 

On  December  i4th,   1780,  he  was  married   to   Miss 


Mrs.  Alexander  Hamilton. 

'From  an  original  picture  painted  in  1781,  by  R.  EarL    Courtesy 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.) 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


Elizabeth  Schuyler,  daughter  of  General  Philip  Schuy- 
ler.  She  was  a  woman  of  rare  intelligence  and  worth, 
and  her  father  was  wealthy  and  widely  respected".  He 
repeatedly  offered  to  help  Hamilton  pecuniarily,  for  he 

was  without  means, 
but  the  young  man 
refused,  sublimely 
confident  of  his  abil 
ity  to  earn  whatever 
he  needed,  whenever 
it  was  needed. 

As  soon  as  the  war 
was  over,  he  took  up 
the  study  of  law,  pur 
suing  it  with  such 
vehement  energy  that 
he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  the  early 
summer  of  1782. 
About  the  same  time 
Robert  Morris  ap 
pointed  him  Conti 
nental  Receiver  of 

Taxes  for  New  York.  His  ability  soon  attracted  such 
favorable  attention  that  the  legislature  elected  him  to 
Congress,  where  he  took  his  seat  in  November,  i  782. 

That  body  had  fallen  into  weakness,  and  the  majority 
failed  to  comprehend  the  woeful  disasters  that  threatened 
the  country.  Hamilton  labored  with  might  and  main 
to  arouse  his  associates  to  the  truth,  but  when  his  term 


Major-General  Philip  Schuyler. 
Born  1733.     Died  1804. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  19 

cried,  he  had  the  mortification  of  feeling  that  he  had 
failed  utterly  in  his  mission.  Bad  as  was  the  condition 
of  his  country  it  -must  become  worse  before  the  drowsy 
sentinels  would  awake. 

While  practicing  law  in  New  York,  Hamilton  showed 
his  high-mindedness  by  his  defense  of  the  Tories.  Nat 
urally  the  resentment  against  them  was  great.  The 
community  clamored  for  vengeance  upon  those  who 
were  now  helpless,  and  they  were  made  to  suffer  in  many 
instances,  cruel  persecution.  Hamilton's  eloquent  plea 
for  justice  was  successful,  but  it  made  him  intensely  un 
popular  for  the  time  in  the  community,  which  was  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  him.  His  makeup  rendered  it 
impossible  for  him  to  be  a  demagogue. 

Meanwhile,  the  country  was  going  to  the  dogs,  and 
only  a  few  people  such  as  Washington,  Hamilton  and 
others,  saw  it.  It  is  hard  at  this  day,  when  our  re 
sources  are  limitless  and  the  unity  of  the  states  perfect, 
to  comprehend  the  apparently  utterly  hopeless  condition 
of  the  country,  throughout  the  period  between  the  close 
of  the  Revolution  and  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 
There  was  no  army  or  navy,  no  cohesion,  everybody 
seemed  to  be  in  debt  and  without  the  means  of  paying 
their  obligations.  The  currency  was  worthless;  broken 
promises  and  bankruptcy  were  on  every  hand,  and  worst 
of  all,  scarcely  anybody  cared. 

The  one  effectual  remedy  for  all  this  was  as  plain  as 
the  sun  in  the  heavens:  there  must  be  a  strong  central 
government.  Congress  had  degenerated  into  a  scene  of 
entertainment  for  the  states,  for  the  utmost  it  could  do 


20  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

was  to  make  suggestions  to  them,  and  they  paid  as  much 
heed  as  if  the  advice  had  been  chattered  by  a  group  of 
Hottentots  in  South  Africa.  A  warning  rumble  of 
thunder  came  from  Massachusetts,  when  in  the  winter 
of  1786-87,  Captain  Shays,  at  the  head  of  an  armed 
mob,  threatened  the  existence  of  the  courts  and  law. 
This  defiant  act  set  people  to  thinking. 

Massachusetts  instructed  her  representatives  to  urge 
upon  Congress  the  necessity  of  a  new  convention,  but 
the  representatives  gave  no  heed  to  the  instructions. 
Virginia,  also,  tried  her  hand.  In  January,  1786,  hav 
ing  made  a  commercial  convention  with  Maryland,  she 
passed  resolutions,  calling  for  a  meeting  at  Annapolis  to 
consider  the  question  of  establishing  a  uniform  commer 
cial  system. 

New  York  appointed  five  commissioners,  of  which 
Hamilton  was  one.  Full  of  hope,  he  went  with  his 
colleagues  to  Annapolis,  where  he  found  that  only 
four  other  states  had  sent  representatives.  Nevertheless, 
he  drew  up  an  address  which  was  sent  out  to  the  people, 
setting  forth  the  imminent  need  of  a  complete  reorgani 
zation  of  the  government,  and  urging  a  convention  of  the 
states  for  that  purpose. 

An  opening  had  been  made, and  the  wedge  was  driven 
home.  The  states  were  morbidly  jealous  of  one  another, 
and  Governor  Clinton  of  New  York  was  bitterly  opposed 
to  the  formation  of  a  powerful  national  government,  as 
was  foreshadowed  by  the  action  of  Hamilton  and  his  as 
sociates.  The  fight  was  seemingly  hopeless  for  Hamil 
ton,  but  he  loved  a  battle  of  that  nature.  He  secured 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  21 

an  election  to  the  legislature,  and  became  the  leader  of 
the  forces  opposed  to  the  governor.  The  first  struggle 
was  over  the  proposal  to  provide  a  permanent  revenue 
for  Congress.  Clinton  defeated  the  measure,  because 
he  had  the  votes,  but  the  wreck  and  ruin  which  was 
thus  brought  face  to  face  with  the  country,  caused  a  re 
action  and  was  therefore  benejicial.  It  set  the  people  to 
thinking  harder  than  before. 

Hamilton,  however,  against  a  hostile  majority,  ob 
tained  the  appointment  of  three  delegates  to  the  ap 
proaching  convention.  They  were  Chief  Justice  Yates, 
John  Lansing,  Jr.,  and  Hamilton  himself.  The  first  two 
were  unshakable  adherents  of  Clinton,  and  opponents  of 
an  improved  federal  government. 

The  representatives  of  nine  states  came  together  in 
Philadelphia,  May  25,  1787,  and  the  moulding  of  a  Con 
stitution  began.  Hamilton's  towering  ability  never  shone 
more  impressively.  His  colleagues  were  his  uncompro 
mising  enemies.  He  was  too  wise  to  weaken  his  power 
by  projecting  his  isolation  upon  the  convention,  and 
thereby  weakening  the  cause  so  dear  to  him.  Instead  of 
taking  part  in  the  debates  and  regular  business  of  the 
convention,  he  worked  privately  at  counselling  and  ar 
guing  with  the  various  members,  and  thereby  accom 
plished  great  results.  He  concentrated  his  efforts  in  a 
single  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  convention,  after  the 
various  plans  had  been  submitted.  Absolutely  master 
of  his  subject,  feeling  the  truth  of  what  he  said  in  every 
nerve  and  fibre  of  his  being,  his  address,  more  than  five 
hours  in  length,  was  one  of  the  most  masterful  of  its  na- 


22  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

ture  ever  delivered.  Its  effect  was  profound.  He 
had  wrought  out  his  own  scheme  and  explained  it 
fully.  Like  all  presented,  it  followed  in  a  general  way 
the  English  system,  agreeing  substantially  with  the  plan 
finally  adopted.  His  republic,  however,  was  to  be  aris 
tocratic,  rather  than  democratic,  and  the  states  were  to  be 
shorn  of  most  of  their  powers.  He  favored  electing  the 
President  and  Senators  for  life  by  the  vote  of  those  who 
possessed  a  certain  property  qualification,  and  gave  to 
the  President  the  appointment  of  the  various  state  gov 
ernors,  who  were  to  have  a  vote  on  all  state  legislation. 

Doubtless,  Hamilton  perceived  that  these  features 
could  never  be  adopted,  but  his  aim  was  to  tone  up  the 
members,  and  lead  them  to  higher  ground,  than  they 
were  disposed  to  take.  He  believed  that  by  aiming  at 
the  sun,  he  would  strike  a  more  elevated  mark,  than  by 
launching  his  arrow  at  a  target  on  the  earth. 

His  colleagues  in  disgust  abandoned  the  convention, 
whereupon  Hamilton  unhesitatingly  affixed  his  signature 
and  that  of  New  York  to  the  Constitution. 

But  his  greatest  work  still  lay  before  him:  that  was 
to  obtain  the  assent  of  New  York  to  the  Constitution, 
which  could  not  become  operative,  until  ratified  by  nine 
of  the  thirteen  states.  The  political  revolution  was 
opened  and  no  single  American  rendered  such  inestima 
ble  service  as  Hamilton  in  bringing  it  to  a  triumphant 
conclusion.  It  should  be  remembered  that  a  decisive 
majority  throughout  all  the  states  were  opposed  to  the 
Constitution,  but  they  were  now  face  to  face  with  it, and 
had  to  decide  whether  to  accept  it,  or  anarchy  and  ruin. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


When  one  reflects  upon  the  vast  blessings  that  have 
flowed  from  the  adoption  of  that  wonderful  instrument, 
it  seems  incredible  that  the  press  teemed  with  passionate 
articles  against,  as  well  as  in  favor  of  it;  that  its  friends 


Shlney  Mansion.  Roxbury.  Mass. 

Residence  of  Governors  Shirley  and  Eustes.     Hamilton,  Washington, 
Burr,  Franklin  and  other  notable  men  were  entertained  here. 

were  burned  in  effigy,  and  that  rioting  and  bloodshed  fol 
lowed  in  many  places;  but  such  was  the  fact. 

The  fiercest  fight  was  in  New  York,  and  it  is  hardly 
short  of  the  truth  to  say  that  the  battle  for  the  Constitu 
tion  was  fought  out  by  Hamilton  alone.  True,  he  had 
gained  supporters,  but  he  was  the  David,  who  hurled 
the  pebble  that  sank  into  the  brain  of  Goliath. 


24  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

The  Clintonians  enlisted  their  ablest  writers  to  combat 
the  scheme;  Hamilton  replied  in  a  series  of  letters  signed 
"Publius."  Madison  gave  him  much  help,  and  Jay  lent 
an  occasional  hand,  but  the  credit  of  the  work  belongs 
to  Hamilton.  Of  this  remarkable  collection  of  essays, 
known  as  "The  Federalist, n  it  has  been  truly  said  that 
it  is  still  the  best  exposition  of  the  Constitution  aside 
from  judicial  interpretation.  It  was  Hamilton's  first  Ti 
tan  blow  in  its  favor,  and  with  the  same  vigor  and  abili 
ty  he  set  to  work  to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  instru 
ment  by  the  State  of  New  York. 

When  he  entered  the  convention  to  quote  his  declara 
tion,  two-thirds  of  the  members  and  four-sevenths  of  the 
people  were  against  him.  The  majority  were  led  by 
Melancthon  Smith,  able,  alert  and  brilliant,  and  by 
Hamilton's  two  colleagues  at  Philadelphia.  Every  de 
tail  of  the  work  of  the  Philadelphia  convention  was 
scrutinized  and  discussed;  Hamilton,  who  was  continu 
ally  on  his  feet  was  attacked,  misrepresented  and  mal 
igned;  seemingly,  each  utterance  of  his  was  distorted, 
and  no  advantage  that  could  be  seized  was  overlooked. 
Undaunted,  the  champion  parried  every  thrust  or  blow, 
and  in  turn  smote  with  a  power  that  was  irresistible. 
He  defeated  all  attempts  at  adjournment,  the  innumera 
ble  amendments,  and  the  absurdity  of  a  "conditional  rat 
ification." 

Finally,  Melancthon  Smith  exploded  his  bomb-shell 
by  rising  to  his  feet, and  announcing  that  Hamilton's  ar 
guments  had  convinced  him,  and  he  should  vote  for  the 
Constitution.  With  him  went  others,  and  on  the  vote 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  25 

the  instrument  was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  three.  The 
history  of  politics,  legislation  and  public  debate  contains 
the  record  of  no  victory  more  complete  or  remarkable 
than  this. 

But  the  great  work  was  not  yet  finished.  New  York 
and  Virginia  had  demanded  a  new  convention  to  amend 
the  Constitution.  This  had  to  be  defeated,  for  otherwise 
the  consequences  would  be  disastrous. 

Hamilton,  now  a  member  of  Congress,  carried  through 
an  ordinance  fixing  the  places  and  dates,  for  setting  the 
new  government  in  motion.  Clinton  brought  about  the 
defeat  of  Hamilton  for  reelection,  and  secured  the  con 
trol  of  the  lower  branch  of  the  legislature,  though  the 
Senate  was  Federal.  A  dead-lock  followed  with  the  re 
sult  that  New  York  was  unrepresented  in  the  first  elec 
toral  college,  and  had  no  Senator  when  the  first  Con 
gress  assembled. 

In  the  next  election,  the  legislature  favored  the  Con 
stitution.  Thus  the  U.  S.  Senators  were  Federalists,  as 
were  four  of  the  six  representatives.  The  day  selected 
for  the  assembling  of  the  new  Congress  was  March  4th, 
but  no  quorum  appeared  until  April  6th.  Then  when 
the  electoral  votes  were  counted,  it  was  found  that  George 
Washington  was  the  unanimous  choice  for  the  Presiden 
cy,  while  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts,  having  received 
the  next  highest  number,  was  elected  Vice  President. 

Hamilton  now  entered  upon  the  grand  work  of  his 
life.  Appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by  President 
Washington,  who  now  as  always  appreciated  his  extra 
ordinary  ability,  he  found  himself  free  to  carry  out  his 


26  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON, 

ideas.  It  was  a  herculean  task,  that  of  ministering  his 
functions  in  the  new  government  in  such  a  way  as  to  ce 
ment  the  nation  more  closely,  to  make  it  stronger,  to  se 
cure  the  respect  of  other  nations,  to  bring  prosperity, 
and  to  be  right.  Who  would  not  have  shrunk  from  the 
task?  But  Hamilton  welcomed  it,  for  it  promised  full 
play  to  his  peerless  genius. 

He  was  thirty-two  years  old  when  he  became  the  first 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Recognizing  his  matchless 
skill,  Congress  and  the  Cabinet  leaned  0:1  him  from  the 
beginning.  He  had  hardly  taken  the  oath  of  office, 
when  Congress  requested  him  to  prepare  a  report  on 
the  public  credit.  This  was  followed  by  other  demands 
until  to  quote  Lodge: 

uln  the  course  of  a  year  he  was  asked  to  report,  and 
did  report,  with  full  details  upon  the  raising,  manage 
ment  and  collection  of  the  revenue,  including  a  scheme 
for  revenue  cutters;  as  to  estimate  of  income  and  expen 
diture,  as  to  the  temporary  regulation  of  the  chaotic  cur 
rency;  as  to  navigation  laws,  and  the  regulation  of  the 
coasting  trade,  after  thorough  consideration  of  the  heap 
of  undigested  statistics;  as  to  the  post-office,  for  which 
he  drafted  a  bill;  as  to  the  purchase  of  West  Point;  on 
the  great  question  of  public  lands,  and  a  uniform  system 
of  dealing  with  them,  and  upon  all  claims  against  the 
government. v 

He  dealt  promptly  and  effectively  with  all  these  and 
other  matters,  besides  drawing  up  a  scheme  for  a  judic 
ial  system.  Money  had  to  be  provided  at  once,  and 
there  was  not  a  dollar  in  the  treasury, nor  any  credit,  but 


TWENTYFOUR  SHILLINGS 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  27 

with    admirable   ingenuity,    Hamilton    met   every    exi 
gency. 

He  set  the  whole  financial  machinery,  complicated 
and  intricate,  moving  like  a  well-oiled  engine,  complied 
with  every  demand  upon  him,  and  when,  after  the  Jan 
uary  recess,  he  laid  his  financial  scheme  before  Congress, 
it  was  so  masterly,  so  com 
plete,  so  perfect  in  detail,  so 
far-reaching  and  comprehen 
sive,  that  it  marked  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  our  coun 
try. 

Jefferson,  Adams  and  oth 
ers  left  their  imprint  upon 
the  Constitution,  as  it  was 
gradually  moulded  into  form, 
but  it  reveals  slight  impress 
of  Hamilton:  it  was  his  to 
stamp  his  personality  deeper 
than  any  other  man,  upon 
the  governmental  policy, and 
the  political  system,  which 

grew  up  during  those  impressionable  years  of  the  repub 
lic. 

Nothing  is  more  admirable  than  Hamilton's  statement 
of  the  objects  to  be  attained  by  his  wise  policy: 

aTo  justify  and  preserve  the  confidence  of  the  most 
enlightened  friends  of  good  government;  to  promote  the 
increasing  respectability  of  the  American  name;  to  an 
swer  the  calls  of  justice;  to  furnish  new  resources  both 


Pirst  Paper  Money  Issued  bv.  the  Col 
onie». 


28  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

to  agriculture  and  commerce;  to  cement  more  closely  the 
union  of  the  States;  to  add  to  their  security  against  for 
eign  attack;  to  establish  public  order  on  the  basis  of  an 
upright  and  liberal  policy:  these  are  the  great  and  inval 
uable  ends  to  be  secured  by  a  proper  and  adequate  pro 
vision  at  the  present  period  for  the  support  of  the  public 
credit" 

Hamilton's  comprehensive  policy  provided  for  the 
payment  of  every  dollar  owing  by  the  national  and  state 
governments;  for  lightening  the  burden  by  a  simple 
funding  scheme;  for  obtaining  a  national  revenue  by 
means  of  the  present  methods  of  imposts  and  excises;  for 
facilitating  business  through  the  establishment  of  a  na 
tional  bank  and  for  giving  the  country  political  and  eco 
nomic  independence,  by  the  adoption  of  a  protective  pol 
icy.  He  was  thus  the  champion  of  public  honesty.  Vari 
ous  features  of  his  scheme  were  hotly  opposed,  Jefferson 
being  one  of  his  most  uncompromising  opponents. 

In  the  summer  of  1792,  Washington  sent  Hamilton  a  list 
of  objections,  prepared  probably  by  Jefferson,  to  the  finan 
cial  policy  of  the  administration.  Hamilton  answered 
them  off  hand,  with  his  usual  vigor  and  skill.  One  of 
the  objections  was  that  the  owners  of  the  debt  were  in 
the  Southern,  and  the  holders  of  it  in  the  Northern  sect 
ion  of  the  Union.  What  could  be  better  than  the  reply 
of  Hamilton. 

"If  this  were  literally  true,  it  would  be  no  argu 
ment  for  or  against  anything.  It  would  be  still  po 
litically  and  morally  right  for  the  debtors  to  pay  their 
creditors." 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  29 

The  advocates  of  the  protective  system  to-day  base 
their  argument  on  the  claim  that  it  raises  wages.  Ham 
ilton's  motives  were  higher;  the  strengthening  of  the 
Union,  and  time  has  justified  his  position.  His  regula 
tion  of  the  finances  established  public  order.  The  nat-. 
ional  bank  was  the  idea  of  his  youth,  and  was  intended  to 
build  up  a  strong  party  in  the  support  of  the  govern 
ment,  holding  the  members  together  by  the  most  pow 
erful  of  all  ties,  a  personal  pecuniary  interest.  In  other 
words,  it  was  to  bring  property  to  the  support  of  the  gov 
ernment. 

The  charge  has  been  made  that  he  was  a  monarchist, 
but  this  rests  upon  his  efforts  to  strengthen  the  national, 
at  the  expense  of  the  state  governments.  On  this  point, 
Professor  Anson  D.  Morse  has  these  forceful  words: 

"When  Hamilton  retired  from  office,  was  the  Federal 
government  too  strong?  Has  it  been  so  at  any  subse 
quent  time  down  to  the  close  of  the  Civil  War?  Have 
the  States  at  any  time  previous  to  1865  been  too  weak  to 
discharge  the  functions  which  properly  belong  to  them? 
On  the  contrary,  is  it  not  true  that  within  the  period 
named,  the  public  interests  suffered  oftener  from  defect 
of  power  in  the  national  government,  and  excess  of  pow 
er  in  the  States,  than  from  excess  in  the  former,  and  de 
fect  in  the  latter?  And  if,  since  1865,  centralization  and 
conseqiient  depression  of  the  States  may  seem  to  any  one 
to  have  proceeded  too  far,  is  not  the  evil  traceable  to  a 
cause  quite  outside  of  Hamilton's  policy?  It  is  moreover 
a  fair  question  whether  the  Union  could  have  withstood 
the  shock  of  secession,  had  it  not  been  for  the  strength 


30  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

which  Hamilton  gave  to  the  national  government." 

As  to  what  constituted  the  debt  of  the  United  States, 
there  were  wide  differences,  which  precipitated  the  first 
political  struggle  in  the  United  States.  The  total  was 
about  eighty  million  dollars,  divided  by  Hamilton  into 
the  foreign  debt,  the  domestic  debt  and  the  debts  of  the 
various  states  incurred  during  the  Revolutionary  strug 
gle,  There  were  no  differences  as  to  the  foreign  debt, 
and  no  one  questioned  the  duty  of  paying  the  domestic 
debt,  but  the  quarrel  was  as  how  and  to  whom  it  should 
be  paid.  The  state  debts  aggregated  twenty-five  mil 
lions,  and  the  views  of  those  concerned  seemed  irrecon 
cilable,  for  there  was  no  end  to  the  conflicting  interests; 
but  the  result  justified  the  sagacious  policy  of  Hamilton. 
One  feature  in  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank  is 
too  important  to  be  overlooked.  The  opponents  insisted 
that  the  Constitution  forbade  the  creation  of  such  an  in 
stitution  by  the  government.  Hamilton  met  this  argu 
ment  by  summoning  the  "Implied  powers"  of  the  Con 
stitution  to  his  support.  The  battle  was  transferred  to 
the  Cabinet,  where  he  convinced  Washington;  and  to-day 
his  views  are  accepted  by  the  majority  of  our  country 
men.  Years  afterward,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  traversed 
the  same  ground  and  decided  the  question  precisely  as 
Hamilton  had  done.  No  achievement  of  the  latter  sur 
passes  in  importance,  that  of  his  calling  into  life,  the  im 
plied  powers  of  the  Constitution.  The  summing  up  of 
his  work  as  the  first  secretary  of  the  Treasury,  may  be 
given  in  the  eloquent  tribute  of  Daniel  Webster: 

uHe  smote  the    rock    of   the   national  resources,  and 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  31 

abundant  streams  of  revenue  burst  forth.  He  touched 
the  dead  corpse  of  public  credit,  and  it  sprang  upon  its 
feet." 

One  result  of 
Hamilton's  pol 
icy  was  the  for 
mation  of  the 
Federal  party, 
who  may  be 
characterized  as 
the  supporters 
of  a  strong  cen 
tral  g  o  v  e  r  ri 
mer  t,  in  which 
the  powers  of 
the  states  were 
restricted  to  the 
distinct  limits 
set  forth  in  the 
Constitution, 
while  their  op 
ponents,  or  An 
ti-Federalists, 
held  the  oppo 
site  view.  The  coherence  of  the  latter  came  from  the 
unyielding  aggressiveness  of  Hamilton.  The  Anti-Fed 
eralists  concentrated  their  enmity  upon  him,  the  embod 
iment  of  "British"  policy  as  they  charged,  the  friend 
of  aristocracy,  whose  dearest  dream  was  the  establish 
ment  of  a  monarchy  in  this  country.  It  was  even  claimed 


Statue  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Boston,  Mass. 
The  Gift  of  Thomas  Lee. 


32  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

that  this  demoniacal  magician  had  bewitched  Washing 
ton  himself,  the  very  genins  of  sanity. 

The  elements  of  opposition  crystallized  around  Jeffer 
son,  and  called  themselves  Republicans.  Their  leader 
and  Hamilton  quarrelled,  neither  occupying  a  dignified 
position  in  the  public  prints.  Washington  appreciating 
the  abilities  of  both,  remonstrated.  Hamilton  stopped 
and  Jefferson  moderated,  but  did  not  cease  his  attacks, 
though  he  was  more  guarded. 

Finally  the  enmity  against  Hamilton  became  so  intense 
that  Jefferson  and  Madison  made  a  shameful  attempt  to 
drive  him  from  the  Cabinet,  through  charges  of  corrup 
tion.  Their  hope  was  that  among  the  vast  mass  ot  com 
plicated  details  in  the  placing  of  the  foreign  loan,  some 
figures  might  be  found  that  could  Tje  twisted  into  charges 
that  implied  wrong  doing.  *  It  ;s  impossible  that  they 
doubted  Hamilton's  integrity,  but  their  great  mistake 
was  in  misjudging  the  man,  who,  fully  roused  by  the  in 
sult,  laid  bare  all  the  operations  of  the  Treasury.  The 
resolutions  of  censure  introduced  in  the  House,  received 
HO  beggarly  a  vote  that  it  only  emphasized  Hamilton's 
vindication. 

Magnificent  as  was  the  ability,  and  superb  the  patriot 
ism  of  Hamilton,  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  represent  him 
as  without  fault,  or  as  never  making  a  blunder.  In  some 
of  his  quarrels  he  lost  his  temper.  While  he  was  a  leader 
of  leaders,  winning  where  resistless  logic  and  invin 
cible  truth  required  marshaling  by  a  master  hand,  he 
was  lacking  in  the  qualities  that  make  up  a  successful 
party  organizer.  He  appealed  to  the  intellect,  rather 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  33 

than  the  emotions.  As  has  been  said,  he  could  never  be 
a  demagogue  or  rarely  descended  to  the  tricks  of  politics, 
while  he  made  more  enemies  than  friends.  He  resigned 
from  the  Cabinet  January  31,  1795,  because  of  the  insuf 
ficiency  of  his  pay,  after  his  policy  was  successfully 
launched  and  in  operation. 

In  1800,  he  published  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  aimed 
to  prove  that  John  Adams  was  unfit  to  be  the  presiden 
tial  candidate  of  the  Federal  party,  and  closed  by  advis* 
ing  his  party  to  vote  for  him.  This  unfortunately  was 
not  the  only  instance  in  which  his  personal  enmity  made 
him  ridiculous.  Adams  had  inherited  his  Cabinet  from 
Washington,  and  at  the  beginning,  the  three  most  im 
portant  members  were  unfriendly  to  him.  They  looked 
upon  Hamilton  as  the  head  of  the  Federal  party,  and 
maintained  close  relations  with  him.  Their  letters  be 
tray  a  spirit  which  was  treacherous  and  dishonorable, 
and  would  not  have  been  tolerated  for  a  single  hour  after 
its  discovery  by  any  of  Adams's  successors. 

In  his  correspondence  with  these  members,  Hamilton 
aimed  to  obtain  material  to  be  used  afterward  in  his  at 
tack  upon  Adams.  This  fact  shows  that  he  was  subject 
to  moods  that  were  anything  but  creditable  to  him,  the 
strongest  proof  being  given  in  1800,  when  he  wrote  an 
impetuous  letter  to  Governor  Jay,  Federalist  governor  of 
New  York,  demanding  that,  in  order  to  prevent  the  elec 
tion  of  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency,  the  legislature  should 
be  called  together,  with  the  purpose  of  choosing  electors 
by  the  people  in  the  districts,  thus  insuring  a  majority 
of  the  votes  in  the  United  States  for  a  Federal  candidate. 


34  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

"In  weighing  this  suggestion  [wrote  Hamilton],  you 
will  doubtless  bear  in  mind  that  popular  governments 
must  certainly  be  overturned,  and,  while  they  endure, 
prove  engines  of  mischief,  if  one  party  will  call  to  its  aid 
all  the  resources  which  vice  can  give,  and  if  the  other 
(however  pressing  the  emergency)  confines  itself  within 
all  the  ordinary  forms  of  delicacy  and  decorum." 

Governor  Jay  thoughtfully  read  this  remarkable  letter 
and  then  filed  it  away  with  the  endorsement — 

"Proposing  a  measure  for  party  purposes,  which  it 
would  not  become  me  to  adopt. " 

The  masterful  brain,  bemuddled  by  personal  enmity, 
and  possibly  by  his  health,  which  had  suffered  from  the 
stupendous  labor  and  strain  of  years,  soon  clarified. 
Jefferson  and  Burr  were  the  opposing  candidates,  and 
the  election  was  carried  into  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.  None  knew  these  two  men  better  than  Hamilton, 
and  by  throwing  all  his  energies  on  the  side  of  Jefferson, 
he  saved  his  country  from  the  indelible  disgrace  of  hav 
ing  such  a  chief  executive  as  Aaron  Burr. 

Returning  to  Hamilton's  invaluable  services  for  his 
country,  it  will  be  recalled  that  for  a  time,  our  foreign 
relations  were  in  a  critical  state.  England  was  still  sour 
and  sullen  over  our  achievement  of  independence.  She 
refused  to  send  a  minister  to  the  United  States;  declined 
to  receive  ours;  retained  the  western  posts,  because  debts 
due  her  subjects  remained  unpaid,  and  let  slip  no  oppor 
tunity  for  injuring  our  commerce.  Lafayette  was  about 
the  only  Frenchman  who  was  unselfish  in  his  assistance 
to  the  colonies  during  the  Revolution. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  35 

The  motive  of  the  others  was  more  to  injure  England 
than  to  help  us,  and  the  reform  which  began  in  France, 
soon  resolved  itself  into  the  most  appalling  revolution  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  The  deep  sympathy  which 
Americans  at  first  extended  to  the  men  struggling  to 
free  themselves  from  the  worst  tyranny  conceivable, 
turned  to  horror  when  the  hideous  excesses  made  all 
mankind  shudder.  Citizen  Genet  landed  at  Charleston 
as  the  representative  of  the  defiant  revolutionary  gov 
ernment,  snubbed  Jefferson  and  carried  matters  with  a 
high  hand. 

Finally  shots  were  exchanged  on  the  ocean,  and  the 
Frenchmen,  like  the  English  in  1812,  and  the  Spanish 
in  1898,  learned  that  Americans  are  pretty  certain  to  hit 
whatever  they  shoot  at.  War  was  so  imminent,  that 
President  Adams  summoned  Washington  from  Mount 
Vernon,  whither  he  sent  his  appointment  as  Commander- 
in-chief.  The  Father  of  his  Country  was  an  old  man, 
but  still  ready  as  always  to  devote  the  last  hour  of  his  life 
and  all  his  strength  to  the  sacred  cause  that  had  engaged 
his  youth  and  prime. 

In  accepting  the  appointment,  Washington  made  the 
condition  that  he  should  not  take  an  active  part  until 
the  army  was  actually  in  the  field,  and  he  claimed  the 
privilege  of  naming  the  officers  who  were  to  be  next  to 
him  in  rank,  and  to  act  as  his  staff.  No  request  from 
so  illustrious  a  source  could  be  denied,  and  he  sent  to  the 
President  the  names  of  three  major-generals  in  the  fol- . 
lowing  order,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Charles  Pinckney 
and  Henry  Knox. 


36  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

President  Adams  was  angered  when  Hamilton  was 
thus  placed  at  the  top  rank,  but  he  could  do  nothing  less 
than  submit  the  names  to  the  Senate  in  the  order  called 
for  by  Washington.  Having  signed  the  commissions, 
Adams  startled  everybody  by  claiming  that  Knox  took 
precedence,  because  of  his  rank  in  the  revolution,  dis 
regarding  the  rule  that  such  officers  had  always  assumed 
rank  in  the  order  of  their  confirmation.  Adams  would 
not  yield,  and  an  unseeming  quarrel  was  precipitated. 

Knox  and  Hamilton,  who  had  long  been  friends  fell 
out  and  the  former  resigned.  Pinckney  was  satisfied, 
and  the  President  became  more  stubborn.  The  alarmed 
Federalists  appealed  to  Washington  who  notified  the 
President  that  unless  his  wishes  were  respected  he  would 
resign.  This  ultimatum  brought  Adams  at  once  to  terms. 

It  is  impossible  to  make  up  a  just  estimate  of  the  gen 
ius  of  Hamilton  without  a  summary  of  his  work  during 
the  brief  period  that  he  was  the  virtual  head  of  the  mil 
itary  forces  of  the  United  States.  He  began  at  once 
with  his  usual  zeal  and  comprehensive  grasp  to  prepare 
his  country  for  the  impending  conflict  with  France. 

His  first  task  was  to  draft  a  plan  for  the  fortification 
of  New  York  harbor,  the  state  having  appropriated  funds 
for  that  purpose.  The  work  properly  did  not  come  with 
in  the  scope  of  his  duty,  but  there  seemed  to  be  nothing 
beyond  the  reach  of  his  ability,  and  he  completed  it 
promptly  and  thoroughly.  Then  he  met  Washington 
and  Pinckney  in  Philadelphia,  and  laid  before  them  a 
scheme  for  the  apportionment  of  officers  and  men  among 
the  states,  for  recruiting,  for  military  supplies,  for  arse- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  37 

nals  and  for  ordnance.  Washington  carefully  examined 
the  scheme  and  pronounced  it  as  near  perfect  as  it  could 
be. 

Having  accepted  it,  Washington  next  scrutinized 
Hamilton's  plan  for  the  organization  of  the  army,  in 
cluding  the  questions  of  pay,  uniforms,  rank,  promotion, 
rations,  regulations  of  barracks,  the  police  of  garrisons 
and  camps,  and  in  fact  every  detail.  Although  the  plans 
were  drawn  up  hurriedly,  they  received  the  fullest  com 
mendation  of  Washington. 

When  Congress  came  together,  Hamilton  submitted 
his  bill  entitled  "An  Act  for  the  better  organizing  of  the 
troops  of  the  United  States."  The  plan  then  existing 
was  changed  only  so  far  as  necessary,  his  aim  being  to 
establish  a  system  that  could  be  contracted  or  expanded, 
without  affecting  the  form  of  the  organization.  The 
Senate  adopted  the  bill  as  well  as  the  one  for  a  medical 
establishment. 

In  addition,  Hamilton  submitted  plans  for  the  classifi 
cation  and  organization  of  the  militia,  for  trade  with  the 
Indians  and  for  military  supplies,  which  were  supple 
mented  by  circulars  in  the  interest  of  discipline.  In 
short,  knowing  the  boundless  capacity  of  Hamilton,  the 
departments  of  the  army,  of  the  navy  and  the  treasury 
relied  upon  him  as  their  mainstay,  and  in  no  instance 
found  they  were  leaning  upon  a  broken  reed. 

While  perfecting  these  elaborate  details,  Hamilton 
shaped  the  plans  for  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Looking 
over  the  battlefield  as  a  whole,  he  saw  that  the  most  ef 
fective  way  to  strike  France,  was  through  Spain  her  ally, 


38  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

then  the  owner  of  the  vast  territory  known  as  Louisiana. 
By  seizing  this,  the  United  States  would  secure  the  ab 
solute  control  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  idea 
was  not  a  new  one  with  Hamilton,  who  hacl  foreseen  and 
declared  years  before,  that  the  free  use  of  that  great  river 
was  essential  to  the  unity  of  the  country.  Regarding 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  he  wrote:  "I  have  been  long  in 
the  habit  of  considering  the  acquisition  of  those  countries 
as  essential  to  the  permanency  of  the  union." 

Hamilton's  view  was  that  of  the  far-seeing  statesman, 
as  was  proven  a  few  years  later  when  it  fell  to  his  rival 
Jefferson  to  carry  his  scheme  to  a  full  fruitition.  What 
Hamilton  intended  to  secure  by  force  of  arms,  Jefferson 
gained  through  purchase.  While  the  credit  goes  to  the 
third  President,  the  scheme  itself  was  Hamilton's. 

Long  previous  to  this,  he  had  declared  that  the  United 
States  was  destined  to  be  the  one  dominant  power  in  the 
western  hemisphere.  Our  duty  was  to  avoid  all  entang 
ling  alliances  with  European  nations,  and  to  enforce  neu 
trality  on  their  part  regarding  America.  If  this  was  not 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  formally  declared  years  later,  it 
certainly  was  the  germ  of  it. 

Francisco  Miranda  was  a  native  of  Caracas,  South 
America,  and  helped  the  French  forces  in  their  campaign 
in  aid  of  American  independence.  Returning  to  South 
America,  he  strove  to  incite  a  revolution  among  the 
Spanish  troops  over  whom  he  was  colonel.  He  escaped 
death  by  fleeing,  and,  in  1790,  while  in  Paris  was  made 
a  major-general  by  the  Girondists.  He  fought  against 
the  Prussians,  but  achieved  no  marked  success,  and  after 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  £> 

the  fall  of  the  Girondists  fled  to  England.  He  was  ban 
ished  again  by  Napoleon  in  1803,  and  went  to  New 
York,  where  he  set  on  foot  his  second  scheme  for  the 
overthrow  of  Spanish  power  in  South  America. 

Hamilton  was  attracted  by  this  soldier  of  fortune,  and 
tried  to  interest  our  government  in  his  schemes,  which 
fitted  so  well  with  his  own  plans,  but  Miranda  was  en 
titled  to  little  consideration,  and  in  the  end  made  an  ut 
ter  failure.  There  must  have  been  much  in  the  prospect 
of  conquest  and  glory  to  fire  the  heart  of  Hamilton;  but 
the  eternal  praise  is  his  of  subordinating  all  his  ambi 
tious  schemes  to  the  consolidation,expansion  and  good  of 
his  country.  He  was  no  Napoleon  or  Burr,  but  his  heart 
glowed  with  a  patriotism  as  exalted  as  that  of  Washing 
ton  himself. 

The  interesting  question  already  referred  to  remains, 
whether  Hamilton  possessed  the  qualities  of  a  great  gen 
eral,  like  Washington  or  Grant.  In  personal  courage,  as 
has  been  shown,  he  had  no  superior.  He  was  dashing, 
quick  to  take  advantage  of  a  mistake  by  an  enemy, 
prompt  to  act  in  any  emergency,  resourceful  and  alert; 
but  it  was  never  his  to  command  an  army. 

It  has  been  said  of  Abraham  Lincoln  that  had  he  re 
ceived  a  military  training,  he  would  have  made  one  of 
the  foremost  military  leaders  of  the  age.  Judging  Ham 
ilton  by  the  same  test,  the  probabilities  are  that  he  would 
have  proven  equally  great.  Washington,  the  unerring 
judge  of  men,  never  would  have  selected  him  for  the 
next  in  command  to  himself,  had  he  felt  any  doubt  of 
Hamilton's  qualifications  for  the  exalted  office. 


40  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

But  France  in  her  bloody  delirium  had  glimmerings 
now  and  then  of  sense.  She  saw  that  in  rousing  the  giant 
of  the  West,  she  had  roused  a  foeman  worthy  of  her 
steel.  The  preparations  made  by  Hamilton  for  an  armed 
conflict  compelled  her  to  pause. 

The  adroit  Talleyrand  felt  it  imperative  to  reestablish 
friendly  relations  with  the  government,  that  had  been 
treated  so  cavalierly.  In  his  usual  roundabout  way,  he 
sent  a  message  to  President  Adams,  that  France  would 
be  pleased  to  receive  fittingly  an  American  envoy. 

Adams  was  delighted.  Not  only  did  this  message 
promise  peace,  but  it  gave  him  the  coveted  opportunity 
of  crushing  the  war  party,  and,  best  of  all,  of  crippling 
his  enemy  Hamilton.  He  immediately  nominated  a 
minister  to  France.  The  plan  of  sending  a  single  man 
to  represent  the  United  States  at  so  critical  a  time  was 
absurd,  and,  upon  Hamilton's  insistence,  a  strong  com 
mission  was  appointed.  But  for  this,  the  Federal  party 
would  have  been  ruined  and  the  country  vastly  injured. 
The  war  cloud  soon  passed  away,  though  bitter  memo 
ries  remained,  and  Adams,  through  his  own  blindness 
and  obstinacy,  was  defeated  for  the  Presidency,  and 
Thomas  Jefferson,  his  Democratic  opponent,  elected  as 
his  successor. 

The  defeat  of  Adams  for  a  second  term  and  the  dis 
ruption  of  the  Federal  party  closed  the  public  career  of 
Hamilton.  He  had  done  a  work  for  his  country, which  few 
even  at  this  late  day  comprehend.  His  illustrious  career 
had  been  blurred  by  errors,  when  he  allowed  his  judg 
ment  to  be  clouded  by  his  passionate  dislikes;  he  had 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  41 

blundered  as  a  party  leader,  and  sometimes  he  misun 
derstood  his  countrymen,  but  he  was  the  foremost  states 
man  of  the  early  republic,  whose  patriotic  devotion  and 
transcendant  abilities  have  never  been  surpassed  by  any 
who  came  after  him. 

Hamilton  was  now  free  to  pursue  his  profession.  He 
had  given  up  a  lucrative  practice  upon  entering  public 
life,  and  was  a  poor  man,  but  his  reserve  capital  of  abil 
ity,  reputation  and  self-confidence  was  greater  than  ever. 
Clients  came  to  him  by  the  score,  and  in  a  short  time  he 
was  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in  the  metropolis  of  the  coun 
try.  He  seemed  to  be  surfeited  with  public  life,  though 
it  was  impossible  for  such  a  man  ever  to  lose  interest  in 
politics. 

Numerous  incidents  illustrative  of  his  unequalled  abil 
ity  as  a  lawyer  have  come  down  to  us.  Many  believed 
that  whenever  he  threw  his  energies  into  a  case,  he  could 
not  fail  to  win.  Judges  and  juries  were  swept  resistless- 
ly  with  him,  and  he  had  that  peculiarity  of  genius,  by 
which  he  impressed  his  hearers  with  the  conviction  that 
his  view  of  a  question  was  absolutely  the  right  one.  In 
his  defense  of  an  editor  prosecuted  for  libel,  his  speech 
won  this  encomium  from  Chancellor  Kent: 

"It  was  the  greatest  forensic  effort  Hamilton  ever 
made.  He  had  bestowed  unusual  attention  on  the  case, 
and  he  came  prepared  to  discuss  the  points  of  law  with 
a  perfect  mastery  of  the  subject.  There  was  an  unusual 
solemnity  and  earnestness  on  his  part  in  the  discussion. 
He  was,  at  times,  highly  impassioned  and  pathetic.  His 
whole  soul  was  enlisted  in  the  cause.  The  aspect  of  the 


42  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

times  was  portentous,  and  he  was  pursuaded  that  if  he 
could  overthrow  the  high-toned  doctrine  of  the  judge,  it 
would  be  a  great  gain  to  the  liberties  of  this  country.  .  . 
The  anxiety  and  tenderness  of  his  feelings,  and  the  grav 
ity  of  his  theme,  rendered  his  reflections  exceedingly  im 
pressive.  He  never  before  in  my  hearing  made  any  ef 
fort,  in  which  he  commanded  higher  reverence  for  his 
principles,  nor  equal  admiration  for  the  power  and  pathos 
of  his  eloquence." 

The  Federalist  party  crumbled  to  pieces  after  its  de 
feat  by  Jefferson,  but  the  halo  that  gathered  round  the 
head  of  their  chief,  who  had  never  betrayed  them,  re 
mained  undimmed.  Whenever  called  upon  to  act,  he 
never  refused.  A  man  of  his  aggressive,  intense  charac 
ter  is  either  loved  or  hated;  lukewarmness  is  impossible. 
Among  the  despicable  adventurers  whom  Hamilton  read 
at  a  glance  was  Aaron  Burr.  This  man  was  an  intrigu 
er,  with  a  pleasing  presence,  not  a  spark  of  moral  prin 
ciple  and  an  insane  ambition,  that  led  him  to  stoop  to 
any  means  to  accomplish  his  ends.  Burr  was  morally 
diseased  through  and  through,  as  his  public  career  abun 
dantly  proves. 

Though  Hamilton  had  quarreled  with  Jefferson,  he 
preferred  him  as  has  been  shown,  a  thousand  times  over 
to  such  a  miscreant  as  Burr.  Jefferson  thoroughly  dis 
trusted  his  Vice  President,  and  Burr  saw  his  influence 
steadily  waning,  with  certain  ruin  impending,  unless  by 
some  audacious  exploit  he  recouped  his  failing  fortunes. 
He  decided  to  do  this  by  securing  the  governorship  of 
New  York.  Behind  such  success  loomed  the  phantom 


Aaron    Burr. 
Born  1756.       Died  1836. 


44  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

of  a  northern  confederacy,  with  him  as  chief,  for  there 
were  mutterings  of  secession  among  the  New  England 
leaders.  That  such  was  the  dream  of  the  arch  traitor 
was  proven  by  his  course  a  few  years  later  in  the  South 
west. 

Hamilton's  love  for  the  Union  was  a  passion  that 
could  be  extinguished  only  by  death.  Reading  the  treas 
onable  aims  of  Burr,  he  denounced  them  with  all  the 
burning  fervor  of  his  nature.  The  democratic  nominee 
was  Morgan  Lewis,  who  had  served  in  the  Continental 
army,  commanding  at  Stone  Arabia  and  Crown  Point. 
He  was  Chief  Justice  of  New  York  when  nominated  for 
the  governorship  against  Burr.  Hamilton's  denuncia 
tions  of  the  latter  were  so  scarifying  that  the  Federalist 
vote  was  divided,  and  Lewis  served  as  governor  from  1804 
to  1807. 

All  the  venom  in  Burr  was  roused  by  this  crowning 
defeat.  He  knew  that  Hamilton  was  the  cause,  and  he 
determined  to  kill  him.  It  would  not  do  to  stab  him  from 
behind  or  to  hire  some  one  to  administer  poison.  Either 
method  would  have  been  vulgar,  and  the  consequences 
to  himself  might  be  disagreeable,  but  he  selected  a  meth 
od  which  essentially  was  fully  as  malignant  in  its  nature. 

He  resolved  to  force  a  quarrel  upon  Hamilton;  for  the 
result  of  a  duel,  no  matter  which  way  it  went,  was  pre 
ferable  to  his  own  impending  ruin.  If  he  fell,  and  he 
did  not  expect  to  fall,  it  would  be  the  end  of  his  worth 
less  life.  If  he  killed  Hamilton,  as  he  expected  to  do, 
the  hatred  of  his  countrymen  could  not  equal  the  exulta 
tion  that  would  be  his,  over  the  death  of  his  execrated  ri- 


46  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

val.  Hamilton's  criticisms  of  Burr  were  as  violent  in  1800 
as  four  years  later,  but  they  were  ignored  in  the  former 
instance,  as  similar  denunciations  have  been  ignored  by 
politicians  in  later  days.  That,  however,  mattered  noth 
ing.  Burr  selected  some  words  attributed  to  Hamilton, 
at  the  time  the  caucuses  were  held  for  the  gubernatorial 
nominations.  These  charges  were  of  a  public  character, 
were  not  especially  bitter,  and  were  mild  compared  to 
what  Hamilton  had  uttered  more  than  once  in  previous 
political  contests. 

Hamilton  acknowledged  the  validity  of  the  "code  of 
honor,"  so  called.  He  was  too  manly  to  deny  anything 
said  by  him,  though  directing  attention  to  the  fact  that 
his  words  were  uttered  against  the  public  character  of 
Burr.  The  latter  pressed  him  remorselessly,  with  the 
final  result  that  the  challenge  was  accepted,  and  an  ap 
pointment  for  a  hostile  meeting  was  arranged  to  take 
place  at  Weehawken,  New  Jersey,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson,  on  the  nth  of  July,  1804. 

Burr  spent  the  interval  between  the  acceptance  of  the 
challenge  and  the  duel  in  elaborate  pistol  practice.  A 
good  shot  at  the  first,  he  became  an  expert  and  was  con 
fident  that,  if  he  escaped  Hamilton's  fire,  the  latter  would 
not  escape  his.  Hamilton  settled  his  business  affairs, 
wrote  farewell  letters  to  his  wife  and  then  on  a  beautiful 
sunshiny  morning  in  July  went  to  his  death.  He  was 
wounded  mortally  at  the  first  fire,  and  discharging  his 
weapon  in  air,  was  carried  to  his  own  home,  where  he 
lingered  in  agony  for  several  hours,  and  died, surrounded 
by  his  stricken  family. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  47 

The  country  was  horrified.  The  press  and  pulpit  de 
nounced  the  deed  that  had  robbed  the  United  States  of 
its  most  brilliant  statesman,  and  the  detestation  of  the 
brutal  code  was  so  widespread  that  duelling  became  more 


The  Grave  of  Hamilton.  Trinity  Churchyard,  New  York. 
(From  "A  Tour  Around  Old  New  York."    Copyright.  1892,  by  Harper  &  Bros.) 

unpopular  than  ever,  though  unhappily  it  was  not  whol 
ly  extinguished,  the  gallant  Decatur  falling  a  victim  six 
teen  years  later. 

Senator  Lodge,  in  his  excellent  life  of  Hamilton,  dis 
cusses  the  question,  Why  did  Hamilton  accept  the  chal 
lenge  of  Burr?  The  conclusion  reached  by  the  author  is 


48  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

ingenious,  but  to  us  it  seems  forced.  It  is  in  effect,  that 
Hamilton  was  haunted  for  years  by  his  belief,  that  the 
weakness  of  the  national  government,  the  unrest  of  the 
masses,  and  the  sympathy  with  France  in  her  awful  re 
volt  would  lead  to  a  somewhat  similar  uprising  in  this 
country.  An  intense  nationalist  himself,  a  devotee  of 
law  and  order,  he  felt  that  the  army  must  be  the  main 
stay  and  hope  in  the  supreme  struggle.  That  body  would 
accept  no  leader  against  whose  personal  courage  a  whis 
per  could  be  uttered.  He  considered  himself  as  the  man 
above  all  others  to  lead  the  army,  and  the  mission  could 
not  be  his,  unless,  figuratively  speaking,  he  went  to  it 
with  "clean  hands."  If  he  refused  Burr's  challenge,  his 
enemies  would  charge  him  with  lacking  such  courage. 
It  would  be  fatal  to  his  hopes,  and,  accepting  his  infinite 
self-confidence,  disastrous  to  the  country,  when  the  deci 
sive  conflict  took  place  between  anarchy  and  order. 
Therefore,  he  felt  impelled  by  a  resistless  impulse  of  pa 
triotic  duty  to  fight  Burr. 

This  theory  we  repeat  is  ingenious  and  is  fortified  by 
extracts  from  Hamilton's  correspondence,  extending  over 
a  course  of  years.  This  proves  that  the  great  man's 
monumental  mistake  was  in  distrusting  his  countrymen, 
and  in  believing  them  capable  of  the  horrible  blunders 
of  France;  but  a  careful  study  of  the  character  of  Hamil 
ton  leads  me  to  adopt  a  much  simpler  theory  of  his  ac 
ceptance  of  Burr's  challenge.  Our  belief  is,  that  Hamil 
ton  fought  Burr,  because  he  lacked  the  moral  courage  to 
decline.  An  enemy  of  the  code,  his  temperament  was 
of  the  sort  that  promptly  accepts  challenges  to  duels. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  49 

He  had  demonstrated  his  intrepidity  at  Long  Island 
when  a  boy,  and  at  York  town  when  a  young  man.  His 
deeds  might  have 
been  tenfold  more 
daring,  and  yet  many 
who  lacked  his  cour 
ageous  qualities 
w  o  u  1  d  have  con 
demned  hin  for  refus 
ing  to  fight  Burr. 
There  are  circum 
stances,  in  which  it 
demands  more  cour 
age  to  refuse  to  fight, 
than  it  does  to  fight, 
and  Hamilton  was 
lacking  in  that  high 
er  courage  which  has 
led  many  a  good  man 
to  his  death. 

But  it  is  idle  to 
discuss  a  question 
when  no  certain  con 
clusion  can  be  reach 
ed.  Hamilton  was 
dead,  though  his  wid 
ow  survived  to  her 
ninety  -  eighth  year. 
His  masterful  work  was  finished,  and  it  remains  only  to 
add  a  few  tributes  from  those  who  appreciated  his  genius. 


Statue  of  Hamilton,  in  Central  Park, 

New  York. 
Presented  by  John  C.  Hamilton,  1880. 


50  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

On  November  23,  1880,  a  granite  statue  of  Hamilton 
was  unveiled  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  in  the  presence 
of  members  of  the  society  of  the  Cincinnati,  General 
Grant,  Ex-Governor  Bullock  of  Massachusetts,  the  May 
or  of  the  city  and  many  distinguished  citizens.  The 
statue  was  presented  to  the  city  by  John  C.  Hamilton,  a 
son  of  Alexander  Hamilton.  Some  years  later,  a  statue 
was  unveiled  in  Brooklyn,  and  other  cities  have  paid 
honors  to  the  great  man. 

The  distinguished  Judge  Ambrose  Spencer  said  of 
Hamilton: 

"Alexander  Hamilton  was  the  greatest  man  this  coun 
try  ever  produced.  I  knew  him  well.  I  was  in  situa 
tions  often  to  observe  and  study  him.  I  saw  him  at  the 
bar  and  at  home.  He  argued  cases  before  me  while  I 
sat  as  judge  on  the  bench.  Webster  has  done  the  same. 
In  power  of  reasoning  Hamilton  was  the  equal  of  Web 
ster;  and  more  than  this  can  be  said  of  no  man.  In  cre 
ative  power  Hamilton  was  infinitely  Webster's  superior. 

It  was  he  more  than  any  other  man,  who  thought 

out  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  details 
of  the  government  of  the  Union;  and,  out  of  the  chaos 
that  existed  after  the  Revolution,  raised  a  fabric  every 
part  of  which  is  instinct  with  his  thought.  I  can  truly 
say  that  hundreds  of  politicians  and  statesmen  of  the  day 
get  both  the  web  and  woof  of  their  thoughts  from  Ham 
ilton's  brains.  He,  more  than  any  other  man,  did  th^ 
thinking  of  the  time.1' 

Chancellor  Kent,  who  understood  Hamilton  thorough 
ly,  said: 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


5» 


"He  rose  at  once  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  professional 
eminence,  by  his  profound  penetration,  his  power  of  anal 
ysis,  the  comprehensive  grasp  and  strength  of  his  under 
standing,  and  the  firmness,  frankness  and  integrity  of  his 
character.  We  may  say  of  him,  in  reference  to  his  asso 
ciates,  as  was  said  of  Papinian:  "Omnes  longo  post  se  in- 
tervallo  relinquerit. " 

Talleyrand  when  in  New  York  saw  Hamilton  at  work 
in  his  office  late  at  night  and  said  of  him: 

"I  have  seen  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  I  have 
seen  a  man  laboring  all  night  to  support  his  family  who 
had  made  the  fortune  of  a  nation.  I  consider  Napoleon, 
Fox  and  Hamilton  the  three  greatest  men  of  our  epoch, 
and  without  hesitation  I  award  the  first  place  to  Ham 
ilton," 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

(1757-1804.) 

BY  G.  MERCER  ADAM  * 

OF  the  group  of  eminent  statesmen  noted  as  the  founders 
and  champions  of  the  American  Government — includ 
ing  Hamilton,  John  Adams,  Jefferson,  Jay,  Madison,  Ran 
dolph,  and  Marshall — the  name  of  Alexander  Hamilton, 
of  New  York,  shines  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  of  all. 
As  Washington's  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  an 
.active  and  able  participator  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
his  services  to  the  young  nation  gave  him  high  and  well- 
deserved  fame.  But  the  chief  distinction  which  he  gained 
in  his  era  is  as  the  leading  exponent  and  interpreter  of  the 
Constitution,  and,  with  his  notable  colleagues.  Jay  and 
Madison,  one  of  the  most  influential  of  the  commentators 
on  that  great  instrument  of  governing,  in  the  pages  of 
"The  Federalist."  Only  subordinate  to  this  fame  of  Hamil 
ton  is  the  admirable  service  he  rendered  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  in  his  statesman-like  grasp  of  the  finances  of  the 
young  nation,  and  his  wise  management  of  its  economic  and 
fiscal  policy,  at  a  time  of  admittedly  great  difficulty  in  the 
national  affairs.  Nor  do  we  forget  his  sagacity  in  counsel, 
his  remarkable  powers  as  a  reasoner  and  debater,  and  his 


•Historian,  Biographer,  and  Essayist,  Author  of  a  "Precis  of  English  His 
tory,"  a  "Continuation  of  Grecian  History,"  etc.,  and  for  many  years  Editor  ol 
Self-Culture  Magazine.— The  Publishers. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  $j 

fine  administrative  ability,  no  less  than  his  masterly  career 
as  one  of  the  chief  framers  and  ablest  expounders  of  the 
Constitution.  It  is  in  the  latter  respect  that  he  won,  in  our 
modern  time,  from  the  distinguished  French  historian  and 
statesman,  M.  Guizot,  that  well-deserved  tribute  to  his 
genius,  when  he  affirmed  that  Hamilton  "must  ever  be 
classed  among  the  men  who  have  best  understood  the  vital 
principles  and  elemental  conditions  of  government;  and 
that  there  is  not  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  an 
element  of  order,  or  force,  or  duration,  which  he  did  not 
powerfully  contribute  to  secure."  Hamilton's  tragic,  early 
death,  at  the  ruthless  hand  of  the  duellist-assassin,  Aaron 
Burr,  was  a  shocking  and  deplorable  event,  and  just  at  the 
time  when,  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers,  he  might,  humanly 
speaking,  have  been  of  incalculable  further  service  to  his 
country  and  era,  and  perhaps  given  added  distinction  to  the 
Presidency,  by  filling  the  high  office  as  an  incumbent  of  it 
himself. 

Considering  his  manifold  and  great  gifts,  and  his  varied 
and  valuable  services  to  his  country,  it  is  painful  to  reflect 
that  Hamilton  had  among  his  contemporaries  not  a  few  ene 
mies  ;  and  that,  despite  his  exalted  personal  character  and 
his  honorable  career  as  a  publicist  and  man  of  affairs.  This 
was  due,  in  large  measure  at  first,  to  the  inchoate  condition 
of  the  country — the  state  of  political  chaos  which  succeeded 
the  Revolutionary  War — with,  as  yet,  no  central,  dominant 
power;  indeed,  with  no  government  other  than  that 
of  the  separate  though  now  emancipated  colonies, 
each  either  drifting  into  anarchy,  or  strenuously 
seeking  for  the  possession  of  increased  and  out- 


54  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

rivalling  authority.  In  this  condition  of  things,  in 
the  formative  era  of  the  Republic,  when  the  opin 
ions  of  even  representative  men  were  in  a  fluid  and  fluctu 
ating  shape,  some  manifesting,  like  Hamilton,  and  even 
Jefferson,  decided  aristocratic  leanings;  while  the  trend  of 
others  was  towards  democratic  government,  with  a  strong 
bias  in  favor  of  State  Rights — naturally  opposition  was 
excited  towards  those,  on  either  side,  who  sought  to  mould 
public  opinion  after  their  own  beliefs,  and  at  times  in  defi 
ance  of  the  desires  and  wishes  of  the  majority.  It  was  at 
this  juncture  that  Hamilton  came  upon  the  political  scene 
and  endeavored  to  influence  the  mind  of  the  time  towards  a 
strong  central  government,  and  a  more  efficient  executive 
than  was  popular  either  with  the  several  States  or  with  their 
delegates  in  convention.  Amid  the  contentions  of  the  era — 
all  centering  in  the  great  question  whether  the  government 
should  be  federative  or  national — Hamilton  stood  out,  and 
emphatically,  for  a  strong,  cohesive,  and  lasting  Union, 
though  one  that  should  be  marked  by  neither  extreme  of 
democracy  or  of  aristocracy,  for  he  saw  danger  in  both  ex 
tremes  ;  and  ably  pointed  out  the  evils  likely  to  arise  in  any 
government  that  was  not  conservative  and  restrained,  or 
that  failed  to  appeal  to  the  just  instincts  and  enlightened 
minds  of  the  better  classes  of  the  people. 

For  the  rule  of  the  majority,  in  the  partisan's  sense, 
Hamilton  did  not  care  nor  pretend  to  care;  there  was  in 
him  none  of  the  arts  of  the  demagogue,  no  trimming  as  a 
public  man,  or  wrong  done  to  his  conscience,  in  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  best  for  his  country;  nor  was  there  any 
disposition  in  Hamilton  to  bow  to  or  cajole  the  populace — 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  55 

the  vice,  especially,  of  a  later  political  time — if  it  involved 
sacrifice  of  conviction,  or  injury  done  to  his  own  high  char 
acter  and  sense  of  what  he  conceived  to  be  at  once  honora 
ble,  patriotic,  and  upright.  It  was  this  attitude  of  the  man 
that  won  for  him  not  only  the  confidence,  but  the  respect 
and  loving  regard,  of  Washington,  even  after  the  rupture 
of  their  relations — a  rupture  caused  by  Hamilton's  sensi 
tiveness  to  criticism,  and  probably  by  his  impatience,  on  his 
part  as  aide-de-camp  and  secretary,  with  his  somewhat 
hasty,  and  at  times  exacting,  yet  always  appreciative  and 
kind-hearted,  chief.  His  own  ambition  was  also  an  influ 
encing  motive  in  leading  Hamilton  to  resign  his  secretary 
ship  under  General  Washington  and  withdraw  from  the 
subordinate  though  important  position  he  held,  to  one  of 
more  scope  and  independence  as  a  general  in  the  field.  It 
was  this  ambition  in  the  man,  coupled  with  a  legitimate 
sense  of  his  own  value,  that  moreover  led  Hamilton  after 
wards  to  take  to  a  legal  career,  and  to  those  activities  of 
his  as  a  statesman,  an  expositor  of  the  principles  involved 
in  shaping  the  constitutional  and  national  policy  of  the 
country,  and  as  an  organizer  and  one  who  gave  practical 
form  to  the  various  branches  of  the  nation's  executive,  and 
lent  his  powerful  aid  as  a  counsellor  and  debater  in  the 
legislative  arena.  In  these  various  ways,  and  in  all  the 
great  services  he  was  to  render  to  the  State,  we  see  a  man 
of  high  principle,  sound  judgment,  and  great  political  wis 
dom,  as  well  as  one  possessed  of  unusual  powers  of  con 
vincing  argument  and  lucid  enunciation  of  the  fundamental 
principles  in  the  realm  of  government.  To  what  greater 
heights,  in  the  way  of  office,  Hamilton,  had  he  lived,  would 


56  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

have  attained,  it  is  now  idle  to  speculate  upon;  but  it  was 
something,  at  such  an  era,  to  accomplish  for  his  country  in 
the  tasks  he  was  so  ably  to  perform — especially  as  a  moulder 
and  defender  of  the  Constitution  and  an  adept  in  finance — 
and  to  win  from  his  contemporaries  the  regard  and  admira 
tion  of  the  great  statesmen  of  his  time,  with  the  esteem  and 
veneration  of  posterity. 

Who  the  interesting  figure  was,  in  the  early  history  of  the 
nation,  that  was  to  exercise  such  sway  and  command  such 
respect  from  the  leaders  in  the  political  life  of  his  day,  will 
have  been  learned  from  the  Memoir,  which  precedes  this 
Essay,  from  the  instructive  and  entertaining  pen  of  Mr. 
Edward  S.  Ellis.  To  give  a  measure  of  completeness  in 
form  to  this  independent,  supplementary  biography  of  Alex 
ander  Hamilton,  it  has  been  thought  best,  before  proceeding 
with  the  narrative,  to  tell  the  story  afresh  from  the  begin 
ning  ;  though  in  doing  so  it  is  hoped  that  we  shall  not  repeat 
much,  or  fail  to  give  interest  to  the  present  sketch  of  the 
great  statesman,  by  presenting  it  from  some  new  points  of 
view,  and  with  equal  admiration  for  the  attractive  historic 
subject  of  our  theme. 

By  birth,  Alexander  Hamilton  was  a  British  subject,  his 
father  being  a  Scottish  merchant  in  the  island  of  Nevis,  one 
of  the  West  Indies  group,  near  St.  Christopher's,  where  the 
future  American  statesman  was  born,  January  nth,  1757. 
From  his  mother,  who  was  an  attractive,  high-spirited 
Frenchwoman,  of  Huguenot  descent,  the  young  West  Indian, 
it  is  believed,  inherited  no  little  of  the  intellectual  gifts  and 
qualities — especially  that  alertness  and  sprightliness  of 
mind — that  afterwards  distinguished  him.  From  the  father 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  57 

obviously  came,  with  some  aspects  of  his  sterling  character, 
those  features  and  marks  of  countenance  and  expression 
that  betrayed  his  Scottish  descent,  including  his  light-col 
ored  hair,  and  bright,  ruddy  complexion,  together  with  his 
studious  habits  and  words  of  grave  thought  and  reflection. 
Young  Hamilton's  life  on  his  native  island  was  a  brief  one, 
since,  in  early  youth,  he  lost  both  his  parents,  and  for  a 
time  we  find  him  in  Santa  Cruz,  in  the  office  of  a  wealthy 
merchant  there,  who  was  a  relative  of  his  mother.  On  mani 
festing  thus  early  unusual  talents,  this  gentleman  had  the 
youth  sent,  in  1772,  for  an  education  to  America,  where, 
after  landing  in  Boston,  he  was  forwarded  to  correspond 
ents  of  the  merchant  in  New  York,  with  instructions  to  have 
young  Hamilton  sent  to  school  in  Elizabethtown,  New  Jer 
sey,  with  the  view  of  preparing  him  for  college.  Such  was 
the  bright  lad's  precocity,  that  he  was  able,  in  his  seven 
teenth  year,  to  enter  King's  College,  New  York,  now  Colum 
bia  University,  where  his  student  career  was  so  brilliant 
that  we  find  him  taking  part  in  political  discussions,  writing 
essays  and  articles  on  current  topics  of  moment,  over  the 
signature  of  "A  Westchester  Farmer,"  which  were  ascribed 
to  such  dignitaries  as  Governor  Livingston  and  the  presi 
dent  of  the  college. 

The  period  (1774-76)  was  one  of  grave  import  to  the 
American  colonies,  then,  as  all  know,  involved  in  serious 
difficulties  with  the  mother  country  on  the  question  of  im 
perial  authority  and  taxation.  The  unwise  policy  of  Eng 
land  arose  from  the  mistake  of  considering  the  settlements 
of  the  Xew  World  as  colonial  possessions,  to  be  held  solely 
for  the  financial  benefit  of  England,  and  to  enable  her  to 


S8  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

maintain  her  increased  civil  and  military  establishments  in 
America,  rather  than  for  their  own  advancement  and  material 
well-being.  The  spirit  of  resistance  had  by  this  time  begun 
to  show  itself,  not  only  by  the  passing  in  the  First  Conti 
nental  Congress,  which  met  at  Philadelphia  in  September, 
1774,  of  a  declaration  of  Colonial  rights,  and  in  the  Second 
Congress  (May,  1775)  by  the  adoption  of  Articles  of  Union 
and  Confederation,  but  by  armed  hostility,  for  the  battles 
of  Lexington  and  Concord,  followed  by  that  of  Bunker 
Hill,  was  in  the  latter  year  fought,  and  Washington  had 
been  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  forces 
in  the  field  of  strife.  These  events  had  their  sequel,  in  1776, 
in  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  on  the  one 
side,  and  on  the  other  by  the  landing  at  New  York  of  contin 
gents  of  the  English  army  under  General  Howe. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  in  the  affairs  of  the  country  he 
had  now  become  a  citizen  and  patriot  of,  that  young  Hamil 
ton  eagerly  espoused  the  cause  of  freedom  and  actively  took 
part  in  the  struggle  of  the  time.  When  only  nineteen,  he 
took  command  of  a  company  of  artillery  which  the  New 
York  Convention  had  ordered  to  be  raised,  and  for  the  duties 
of  which  he  had  meanwhile  been  assiduously  and  patriotic 
ally  preparing  himself.  His  tactical  efficiency  in  the  drill 
ing  and  disciplining  of  this  troop,  as  well  as  his  eager  enthu 
siasm  and  proficiency  as  an  officer,  young  as  he  was,  at 
tracted  the  notice  of  General  Nathanael  Greene,  by  whom 
he  was  ere  long  introduced  and  commended  to  General 
Washington.  As  an  officer,  the  young  West  Indian  saw 
considerable  military  service,  taking  part  with  his  artillery 
company  at  the  battle  of  Long  Island  (August,  1776), 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  59 

where  he  distinguished  himself  in  the  retreat  of  the  patriot 
army,  as  well  as,  later  on,  in  the  engagements  at  Harlem 
Plains,  and  in  the  grim  fighting  in  New  Jersey,  at  New 
Brunswick,  Trenton,  and  Princeton.  In  the  gloomy  winter 
of  1776-77,  when  the  army  was  encamped  at  Morristown, 
New  Jersey,  the  keen  eye  of  the  commander-in-chief  saw 
young  Hamilton's  alertness  and  decision  of  character,  as 
well  as  his  fine  deportment  and  gallant  bearing  as  a  soldier, 
the  result  of  which,  added  to  the  commendation  of  Nathan- 
ael  Greene,  to  which  we  have  referred,  was  the  offer  by 
General  Washington  to  place  Hamilton  on  his  staff  as  an 
aide-de-camp  and  to  act  as  his  private  secretary.  This  offer 
the  youth,  at  the  age  of  a  little  over  twenty,  readily  accepted, 
and  he  assumed  his  new  duties,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
colonel. 

For  success  in  his  new  role,  in  the  service  of  the  com 
mander-in-chief,  Hamilton  had,  as  we  have  seen,  many  and 
various  gifts  as  a  speaker  and  writer,  among  them  such  as 
made  him  highly  useful  as  the  secretary,  and  even  as  the 
confidential  adviser,  of  the  general.  Not  only  was  he  inde 
fatigable  in  his  zeal  for  the  patriot  cause,  but  he  had  that 
diplomatic  aplomb  which  made  him  of  great  service  in  the 
delicate  duties  of  his  office,  which,  above  all  things,  called 
for  tact  and  discretion  as  well  as  ability.  As  a  thinker  and 
writer  on  the  affairs  of  his  country,  Hamilton,  moreover, 
had  ere  this  shown  his  skill  and  the  force  of  his  genius. 
Besides  the  reputation  he  had  gained  while  at  King's  Col 
lege,  Hamilton,  it  was  known,  had  appeared  to  advantage 
on  public  platforms,  particularly  "in  the  fields"  of  what  is 
now  the  City  Hall  Park,  New  York,  where  he  addressed  a 


6c  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

fervent  speech  to  his  audience  on  the  subject  of  Colonial 
rights.  He  had  also  published  his  "Full  Vindication,"  a 
forceful  pamphlet  in  reply  to  Tory  criticism  of  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  besides  other  disquisitions  of  a  though ful 
and  patriotic  character.  These  and  such-like  manifestations 
of  ability,  and  the  command  of  a  trenchant  as  well  as  of  a 
ready  pen,  were  qualifications  which  manifestly  made  him 
most  useful  to  Washington,  in  conducting  his  important, 
multitudinous  correspondence.  He  had,  moreover,  those 
qualities  which,  as  Dr.  John  Lord,  the  historian  and  lecturer, 
has  well  said,  ''Secured  confidence — integrity,  diligence, 
fidelity,  and  a  premature  wisdom."  He  had  brains  and  all 
those  resources  which  would  make  him  useful  to  his  country. 
Many  there  were  who  could  fight  as  well  as  he ;  but  there 
were  few  who  had  those  high  qualities  on  which  the  success 
of  a  campaign  depended.  Thus,  Hamilton  was  sent  to  the 
camp  of  General  Gates,  at  Albany,  to  demand  the  division 
of  his  forces  and  the  reinforcement  of  the  commander-in- 
chief,  which  Gates  was  very  unwilling  to  accede  to,  for  at 
this  period  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  had  turned 
his  head.  He  (Gates)  was  then  the  most  popular  officer  of 
the  army,  and  even  aspired  to  the  chief  command.  So  he 
was  inclined  to  evade  the  orders  of  his  superior,  under  the 
plea  of  military  necessity.  It  required  great  tact  in  a  young 
man  of  Hamilton's  calibre  to  persuade  an  ambitious  general 
to  diminish  his  own  authority ;  but  Hamilton  was  successful 
in  his  mission,  and  won  the  admiration  of  Washington  for 
his  adroit  management.  He  was  also  very  useful  in  the  most 
critical  period  of  the  war  in  ferreting  out  conspiracies, 
cabals,  and  intrigues ;  for  such  there  were,  even  against 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  61 

Washington,  whose  transcendent  wisdom  and  patriotism 
were  not  then  appreciated  as  they  were  afterward. 

"The  military  services  of  Hamilton,"  continues  Dr.  Lord, 
"were  concealed  from  the  common  eye,  and  lay  chiefly  in  his 
sage  counsels ;  for,  young  as  he  was,  he  had  more  intellect 
and  sagacity  than  any  man  in  the  army.  It  was  Hamilton 
who  urged  decisive  measures  in  that  campaign  which  was 
nearly  blasted  by  the  egotism  and  disobedience  of  Charles 
Lee  (at  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  in  1778.)  It  was  Hamilton 
who  was  sent  to  the  French  admiral  to  devise  a  co-operation 
of  forces,  and  to  the  headquarters  of  the  English  to  negotiate 
for  an  exchange  of  prisoners.  It  was  Hamilton  who  dis 
suaded  Washington  from  seizing  the  person  of  Sir  Harry 
Clinton,  the  English  commander  at  New  York,  when  he 
had  the  opportunity.  'Have  you  considered  the  conse 
quences  of  seizing  the  general?'  asked  the  aide.  'What 
would  these  be?'  inquired  Washington.  'Why,'  replied 
Hamilton,  'we  should  lose  more  than  we  should  gain ;  since 
we  perfectly  understand  his  plans,  and,  by  taking  him  off, 
we  should  make  way  for  an  abler  man,  whose  disposition 
we  have  yet  to  learn.'  Such  was  the  astuteness  which  Ham 
ilton  early  displayed,  so  that  he  really  rendered  great  mili 
tary  services  without  commanding  on  the  field." 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  rupture  between  Hamil 
ton  and  Washington,  which  occurred  in  February,  1781, 
after  the  young  secretary  and  aide  had  been  for  four  years 
in  close  and  intimate  relations  with  the  great  chief.  The 
cause  that  brought  about  separation  and  the  resignation  of 
the  post  held  by  Hamilton  was  nothing  more  than  a  hasty 
rebuke  from  the  commander-in-chief,  which  the  hi.eh-spi'r- 


62  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

ited  youth  resented ;  and  hence  we  presently  rind  him,  though 
with  the  continued  favor  and  regard  of  Washington,  re 
turned  to  the  army  in  the  field,  with  the  brevet-rank  now 
of  general.  In  this  capacity  he  displays  once  more  his  for 
mer  ardor  and  courage  in  battle,  and  at  this  era  took  part 
in  the  closing  engagement  with  the  troops  of  the  Motherland 
in  the  Yorktown  peninsula.  At  this  juncture  in  the  pro 
tracted  series- of  campaigns  with  the  English  forces,  Corn- 
wallis  was  being  hemmed  about  by  the  armies  of  the  young 
Republic,  and  Hamilton  closed  his  military  career  by  lead 
ing  a  successful  assault  on  one  of  the  redoubts  of  Yorktown. 
After  this  gallant  exploit,  and  the  war  being  practically  over, 
Hamilton  retired  from  the  army  to  study  law  at  Albany, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1^2  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  pro 
ceeded  to  New  York  to  practice  his  profession  and  fulfill 
the  duties  of  the  office  given  him  by  the  financier  and  states 
man,  Robert  Morris,  as  Federal  Receiver  of  Taxes.  Later 
in  the  same  year,  he  resigned  the  latter  office,  having  been 
elected  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  where  he  now 
began  to  shine  as  a  legislator  and  debater  and  to  take  com 
manding  interest  in  questions  of  Constitutional  government 
and  finance.  Two  years  before  this,  and  while  still  secretary 
to  General  -Washington,  Hamilton  married  the  daughter  of 
General  Philip  Schuyler,  a  lady  of  good  birth  and  high  in 
telligence,  as  well  as  of  a  greatly  respected  and  influential 
family.  His  own  ability  and  known  rectitude  of  conduct 
and  unblemished  life  soon  won  him  high  repute  as  a  law 
yer  and  brought  him  much  and  important  professional  busi 
ness. 

It  was  at  this  period  of  his  career  that  Hamilton  began 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  63 

to  make  a  name  for  himself  as  a  statesman.  The  political 
situation  at  the  era  was  full  of  menace  and  perplexity, 
for  New  York  was  yet  full  of  Tories,  whom,  by  the  way, 
Hamilton  spoke  of  and  treated  magnanimously  and  with 
no  resentment,  even  to  his  prejudice  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  had  no  sympathy  for,  but  an  abiding  hatred  of,  "the 
Loyalists ;"  while  the  country  at  large  was  as  yet  ill-prepared 
to  grapple  with  the  problems  which  beset  Government  at 
the  period.  To  Hamilton,  as  well  as  to  Washington  and 
other  thoughtful  and  responsible  men,  the  urgent  need 
of  the  time  was  for  a  strong  central  government,  with  full 
authority  to  carry  on  successfully,  and  with  credit,  the  af 
fairs  of  the  young  Republic,  and  especially  to  determine 
the  embarrassing  question  as  to  control  over  the  several 
State  Legislatures  and,  if  possible,  merge  into  national 
hands  the  general  business  of  the  nation.  The  first  want 
was  for  a  Federal  Constitution,  that  would  give  the  young 
State  a  charter  of  centralized  government,  with  ample  tho' 
well-defined  powers  and  a  recognized  jurisdiction,  and  set 
tle  the  great  Constitutional  question  as  to  the  authority  of 
the  Nation  being  greater  than  that  of  the  State  or  any  num 
ber  of  States.  It  was  to  this  great  and  prime  end  that 
Hamilton  bent  his  fine  powers,  after  which  he  undertook 
the  no  less  important  task  of  grappling,  in  a  masterly  and 
comprehensive,  far-seeing  manner,  with  the  matter  of  na 
tional  finance. 

Hamilton,  we  need  hardly  now  say,  rose  to  the  emer 
gency,  and  luckily  for  the  country  he  had  those  gifts  of  in 
tellect  and  phenomenal  powers  of  mind  and  will  that  en 
abled  him  ere  long1  to  win  what  was  wanted,  and  give  to 


64  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

the  Republic  a  status  among  the  nations,  with  a  financial 
credit  that  would  be  unimpeachable,  while  knitting  into 
one  whole  fabric  the  former  loose  Confederacy  of  States, 
and  so  evoke  pride  in  one's  common  country.  His  course 
toward  the  attainment  of  his  hopes  was,  however,  a  chequer 
ed  one,  for  he  had  the  hostility  of  many  influential  New 
York  men,  who,  with  Governor  Clinton,  was  opposed  to 
Hamilton's  idea  of  a  strong  national  government ;  while  he 
had  ever  an  aggressive  opponent  in  Jefferson,  who  repres 
ented  other  ideas  and  with  Patrick  Henry  handicapped 
the  Constitution,  when  it  came  to  be  adopted,  by  various 
amendments.  While  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legisla 
ture,  in  1786,  he  nevertheless  succeeded  in  reaching  the  first 
stage  of  his  desires,  in  being  nominated  one  of  five  commis 
sioners  to  the  Annapolis  Convention.  The  second  and  more 
productive  stage  reached,  came  in  the  call  he  had  succeeded 
in  bringing  about  to  what  is  known  as  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  which  met  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  1787,  over 
which  Washington  himself  presided.  To  that  Convention, 
represented  by  nine  States,  Hamilton  was  named,  though 
with  opposition,  as  a  member,  with  two  others — Yates  and 
Lansing — who,  however,  were  henchmen  of  Governor  Clin 
ton,  and  hence  opposed  Hamilton  and  his  project.  Before 
that  body,  Hamilton  made  a  speech  of  six  hours'  duration, 
in  which  he  ably  set  forth,  in  his  wonted  comprehensive 
and  far-seeing  way,  his  views  of  the  nature  of  the  Consti 
tution  he  deemed  expedient  for  the  country's  needs,  especi 
ally  dwelling  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  executive  part  of  the 
proposed  instrument  of  governing,  with  a  clear  and  lumi 
nous  enunciation  of  fundamental  principles.  The  model 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  65 

he  had  evidently  in  view  was  the  English  one,  to  which 
his  aristocratic  notions  largely  leaned;  while  in  some  mat 
ters,  notably  in  regard  to-  slavery,  the  Constitution  was  a 
compromise,  and  tolerated  the  evil  institution  only  for  the 
sake  of  harmony  and  Union.  He  also  astutely  argued  for 
neither  extreme  in  governing,  taking  a  middle  way  be 
tween  autocracy  and  democracy,  but  insisting,  above  all, 
on  the  supreme  authority  of  the  central  government,  and  the 
control,  absolutely  without  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
State  legislatures,  of  the  chief  functional  departments  of  the 
Federal  power. 

In  his  address  in  the  New  York  ratifying  convention,  in 
June,  1788,  "On  the  Expediency  of  Adopting  the  Consti 
tution,"  Hamilton  further  explained  his  views  and  adroitly 
answered  the  objections  to  the  instrument  as  one  likely  to 
interfere  with  local  or  State  governing  bodies,  arguing 
very  properly  and  frankly  that  "there  must  be  a  perpetual 
accommodation  and  sacrifice  of  local  advantages  to  general 
expediency,"  and  that  local  interests  ought  to  give  way  to 
the  broad  interests  of  the  Union.  "While  the  Constitu 
tion  continues  to  be  read,  and  its  principles  kno\vn,  the 
States,"  he  affirmed,  "must  by  every  rational  man  be  con 
sidered  as  essential,  component  parts  of  the  Union;  and 
therefore  the  idea  of  sacrificing  the  former  to  the  latter  is 
wholly  inadmissible."  He  further  advised  the  committee 
who  were  dealing  with  the  matter  "to  remember  that  the 
Constitution  under  examination  is  framed  upon  truly  Re 
publican  principles ;  and  that,  as  it  is  expressly  desired 
to  provide  for  the  common  protection  and  the  general 
welfare  of  the  United  States,  it  must  be  utterly  repugnant 


66  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

to  this  Constitution  to  subvert  the  State  governments  or 
oppress  the  people."  Hamilton  also  argued  for  two  distinct 
bodies  in  the  general  as  well  as  in  the  local  government, 
one  the  Senate,  and  the  other  the  popular  branch,  which 
should  represent  the  people.  The  chief  point,  in  brief, 
which  he  however  insisted  upon  was  that  the  Federal  gov 
ernment  should  possess  the  principle  of  strength  and  sta 
bility  in  its  organization  and  be  characterized  by  independ 
ence  as  well  as  by  vigor  in  its  operations. 

The  end  of  the  deliberations — for  argument  and  debate 
had  already  closed — was,  as  all  know,  the  ratification  by 
New  York  State  of  the  Constitution,  thanks  in  the  main 
to  Hamilton's  impressive  and  convincing  speeches  and  writ 
ings,  with  those  of  Jay  and  Garrison,  afterwards  compiled 
in  the  pages  of  "The  Federalist."  Its  ratification,  despite 
the  alterations  and  amendments  embodied,  was  naturally 
hailed  as  a  great  triumph,  while  it  especially  delighted  Wash 
ington  and  Hamilton.  It  was  indeed  a  happy  consumma 
tion  to  the  labors  of  the  many  able  and  distinguished  men 
who  had  taken  part  in  counsellings  as  well  as  in.  discus 
sions  over  it  and  had  finally  brought  about  its  ratification 
by  the  leading  States  of  the  Union.  In  securing  its  rati 
fication  by  the  other  chief  States,  which  tardily  followed 
the  lead  of  New  York,  Hamilton  here  again  was,  with  his 
colleagues,  instrumental,  alike  by  his  arguments  and  inter 
pretation  in  the  notable  series  of  "The  -Federalist"  papers. 
These  "Federalist"  essays,  Mr.  George  Ticknor  Curtis,  the 
great  legal  writer  and  historian  of  the  Constitution,  has  aptly 
affirmed,  "gave  birth  to  American  Constitutional  law,  which 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  6~ 

f 

was  thus  placed  above  arbitrary  construction  and  brought 
into  the  domain  of  legal  truth." 

With  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  came  the  organi 
zation  of  the  Government,  and  the  election  of  Washington 
as  first  President  of  the  United  States  and  that  of  John 
Adams  as  Vice-President.  Washington  took  the  oath  of 
office  April  30,  1789,  more  than  a  month  after  the  date  orig 
inally  set  for  the  assembling  of  Congress,  owing  to  the  tardy 
coming  together  of  a  quorum  of  both  Houses  of  the  first 
Congress  to  count  the  electoral  votes.  At  this  period  we 
now  near  the  next  incident  of  moment  in  Hamilton's  career. 
This  was  his  appointment  in  Washington's  first  Cabinet 
to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  while  the 
rival  leader  in  the  after-political  parties  of  the  era  was 
the  U.  S.  Minister  to  France,  the  distinguished  drafter  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Thomas  Jefferson,  who 
was  named  Secretary  of  State.  The  three  other  executive 
departments  at  this  time  were  those  of  the  War  department, 
the  department  of  Justice,  and  the  Post-office — the  Post 
master  General,  for  the  present,  being  outside  the  Cabinet 
or  advisory  body  of  the  President. 

When  Hamilton  accepted  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treas 
ury,  he  was  but  thirty-two  years  of  age,  but,  as  we  shall 
see,  he  was  gifted  with  the  powers  of  a  great  administrator 
and  able,  soon  after  the  assumption  of  his  arduous  and  re 
sponsible  duties,  to  present  to  Congress,  as  it  had  been  asked 
for,  an  elaborate  report  on  the  public  credit.  The  national 
finances  at  this  period  were  in  a  chaotic  condition,  and  the 
debt  to  be  dealt  with  amounted  to  $54,000,000,  including 
overdue  interest.  Of  this  large  sum,  a  fifth  was  owed 


68  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

abroad,  while  the  bulk  of  the  whole — the  domestic  debt — 
was  due  in  the  main  to  those  who  had  furnished  the  much 
needed  supplies  for  the  Revolutionary  army,  or  to  those, 
chiefly  the  soldiers,  who  had  rendered  personal  service 
to  the  Nation.  To  meet  these  obligations,  where  payment 
pressed,  and  to  provide  for  the  running  expenses  of  the 
National  government  and  for  further  contingencies,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  showed  not  only  sound  sense, 
but  the  practical  mastery  of  the  science  of  finance,  and  to 
that  degree  that  the  credit  of  the  new  government  of  the 
nation  was  secured.  Part  of  the  debt  was  funded,  while 
taxation  was  resorted  to,  but  so  wisely  as  to  fall  uncomplain 
ingly  upon  the  people  and  mollify  those  who  were  averse 
to  the  notion  of  the  Federal  government,  with  its  necessa 
rily  large  expense  and  the  centralization  of  power.  Other 
problems  Hamilton  at  this  time  had  to  deal  with,  such  as 
the  assumption  of  certain  portions  of  the  State  debts,  be 
sides  the  adjustment  of  questions  involved  in  raising  a  rev 
enue  from  excise,  and  those  arising  from  the  need  of  a 
National  Bank,  of  a  permanent  seat  for  the  Federal  gov 
ernment,  and  the  adoption  of  a  protective  policy  to  aid  the 
nascent  industries  or  those  likely  to  arise.  On  most  of  the 
schemes  propounded  by  the  Treasury  Secretary,  its  chief 
naturally  met  with  opposition  and  much  hostile  criticism, 
which,  among  other  results,  led  to  the  formation  of  parties, 
and  even  threatened  the  continuance  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  in  office.  Varying  views  on  financial  ques 
tions  and  other  controverted  topics  of  the  time,  as  we  have 
said,  led  to  party  affiliations,  besides  the  withdrawal  of 
Madison's  support  of  Hamilton,  and  to  the  rise  of  the  poli- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  69 

tical  parties,  then  known  as  Federalists  and  Republicans, 
with  all  the  bitterness  and  rancor  to  which  they  gave  rise. 
Sick  of  all  this,  though  he  ever  fought  effectively  for  his 
own  hand,  Hamilton  resigned  office  at  the  end  of  January, 
1795,  and  anew  took  up  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
at  New  York  became  once  more  the  leader  of  the  Bar. 

On  withdrawing  from  his  official  duties,  Hamilton's  in 
fluence  and  his  prominence  in  politics  continued,  for  though 
he  had  many  enemies,  such  as  Jefferson, 'Clinton,  and  Aaron 
Burr,  he  had  the  respect,  and  even  admiration,  of  all  in 
dependent  minds,  and  of  those  particularly  who  knew  his 
great  intellectual  ability  and  high  moral  worth.  In  power 
of  mind  he  far  surpassed  most  of  his  contemporaries,  and 
as  a  thinker  he  was  profound  as  well  as  logical;  while  he 
continues  to-day  to  be  the  admiration  of  our  greatest  states 
men.  His  genius  as  a  financier  and  statesman,  together 
with  his  great  services  in  the  army,  are  now  perhaps  more 
highly  recognized  and  appreciated  than  in  his  own  day ; 
though  even  in  his  own  time  he  was  deemed  an  intellectual 
prodigy  and  rated  as  next  in  rank  to  the  illustrious  Washing 
ton.  Of  him,  Charles  Francis  Adams  has  eloquently  and 
forcibly  said,  that  "among  all  the  remarkable  men  of  the 
Revolution,  we  know  of  no  one  who,  for  the  attributes 
which  usually  mark  genius,  was  more  distinguished.  He 
was  endowed  with  a  singularly  comprehensive  mind,  which 
enabled  him  to  originate  forms  of  government  and  systems 
of  administration,  whilst  he  united  with  it  an  intrepidity 
and  an  energy  equal  to  the  task  of  putting  them  in  ex 
ecution."  Alas !  that  so  splendid  a  career  should  have  Been 


70  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

so  wantonly  and  cruelly  cut  short  at  the  early  age  of  forty- 
eight. 

We  now  near  the  tragic  end — an  end,  however,  that  but 
served  the  more  ardently  to  endear  him,  even  in  death, 
to  all,  and  preserve  his  memory  to  coming  generations 
as  the  first  and  most  truly  patriotic  of  statesmen,  who  was 
a  martyr  to  his  own  high,  though  mistaken,  sense  of  honor. 
In  the  rivalries  and  heated  controversies  of  his  day,  we  have 
already  mentioned  that  Hamilton  and  Aaron  Burr  were 
political  antagonists;  and  we  know  that  Hamilton  had  no 
love  for  either  the  man  or  the  methods  of  him  who  was 
Washington's  colleague  in  office.  Burr's  political  aspira 
tions,  Hamilton  had  constantly  thwarted,  and  he  had,  it 
seems,  ill-advisedly  spoken  of  him  as  a  man  to  eschew  and 
beware  of.  He  had,  moreover,  used  his  influence  to  keep 
Burr  from  receiving  an  appointment  on  a  foreign  mission ; 
he  had  also  secured  his  defeat  when  his  rival  was  a  candi 
date  for  the  governorship  of  New  York;  and  now  (1804) 
when  a  new  incumbent  of  the  office  of  President  of  the 
United  States  was  sought  for,  Hamilton  threw  his  in 
fluence  in  the  scale  against  him.  To  a  man  of  Burr's 
temper  and  character,  these  hostile  acts  of  Hamilton  rank 
led  bitterly  in  his  breast ;  and  when  his  integrity  was  im 
pugned  and  derogatory  things  were  said  of  him  by  Ham 
ilton,  nothing  would  satisfy  Burr  but  a  challenge  to  com 
bat,  for  his  adversary  was  not  the  man  to  withdraw  any 
opinion  he  had  honestly  expressed  or  give  his  challenger 
other  satisfaction  in  the  way  of  retraction  or  apology.  The 
hideous  resort  of  the  period  was  then  only  to  the  duel,  and 
though  Hamilton  was  reluctant  to  have  recourse  to  this, 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  71 

and  meant,  whatever  happened,  to  throw  away  his  fire 
rather  than  kill  or  even  wound  his  adversary,  he  decided  to 
appear  on  the  duelling  ground,  and,  with  no  malice  in 
his  heart,  magnanimously  give  Burr  the  satisfaction  he 
sought.  The  sad  issue  of  the  affair  came  all  too  soon 
and  tragically,  for  the  combatants  met  at  Weehawken,  N. 
J.,  at  daylight  on  July  n,  1804,  and  the  great  statesman 
fell  mortally  wounded  at  Aaron  Burr's  first  fire.  General 
Hamilton  lingered,  more  or  less  unconscious,  to  the  fol 
lowing  day,  when  he  passed  resignedly  from  earth,  sur 
rounded  by  his  loved  wife  and  seven  sorrow-stricken  child 
ren.  The  sorrow  of  the  nation  at  the  loss  of  the  great  man 
was  as  universal  as  it  was  profound ;  and  on  the  fourteenth 
day  of  July  he  was  given  a  public  funeral  at  New  York, 
where  in  the  churchyard  of  Trinity  church,  Broadway, 
his  remains  were  interred. 

The  horror  and  grief  of  the  country  at  the  illustrious 
man's  ill-starred  fate  was  feelingly  expressed  by  Governeur 
Morris  in  an  eloquent  eulogy  at  the  tomb;  while  keen  and 
outspoken  was  public  resentment  against  Burr,  insomuch 
that  he  fled  for  his  life — the  future  of  which  was  a  pitiful 
though  a  deserved  one,  of  practical  outlawry,  contumely, 
and  ostracism. 


ONTHE  EXPEDIENCY  OF  ADOPTING  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION. 

Speech  by   Alexander  Hamilton,   in  the  Convention  of  New  York,  June  24.  178S. 

1AM  persuaded,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  I  in  my  turn  shall 
be  indulged,  in  addressing  the  committee.  We  all,  in 
equal  sincerity,  profess  to  be  anxious  for  the  establish 
ment  of  a  republican  government,  on  a  safe>and  solid  basis. 
It  is  the  object  of  the  wishes  of  every  honest  man  in  the 
United  States,  and  I  presume  that  I  shall  not  be  disbelieved, 
when  I  declare,  that  it  is  an  object  of  all  others  the  nearest 
and  most  dear  to  my  own  heart.  The  means  of  accomplish 
ing  this  great  purpose  become  the  most  important  study 
which  can  interest  mankind.  It  is  our  duty  to  examine  all 
those  means  with  peculiar  attention,  and  to  choose  the  best 
and  most  effectual.  It  is  our  duty  to  draw  from  nature, 
from  reason,  from  examples,  the  best  principles  of  policy, 
and  to  pursue  and  apply  them  in  the  formation  of  our 
government.  We  should  contemplate  and  compare  the  sys 
tems,  which,  in  this  examination,  come  under  our  view; 
distinguish,  with  a  careful  eye,  the  defects  and  excellencies 
of  each,  and,  discarding  the  former,  incorporate  the  latter, 
as  far  as  circumstances  will  admit,  into  our  Constitution.  If 
we  pursue  a  different  course  and  neglect  this  duty,  we  shall 
probably  disappoint  the  expectations  of  our  country  and  of 
the  world. 

In  the  commencement  of  a  revolution,  which  received 
its  birth  from  the  usurpations  of  tyranny,  nothing  was  more 
natural  than  that  the  public  mind  should  be  influenced  by 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  73 

an  extreme  spirit  of  jealousy.  To  resist  these  encroach 
ments,  and  to  nourish  this  spirit,  was  the  great  object  of  all 
our  public  and  private  institutions.  The  zeal  for  liberty 
became  predominant  and  excessive.  In  forming  our  Con 
federation,  this  passion  alone  seemed  to  actuate  us,  and  we 
appear  to  have  had  no  other  view  than  to  secure  ourselves 
from  despotism.  The  object  certainly  was  a  valuable  one, 
and  deserved  our  utmost  attention.  But,  sir,  there  is  an 
other  object  equally  important,  and  which  our  enthusiasm 
rendered  us  little  capable  of  regarding:  I  mean  a  principle 
of  strength  and  stability  in  the  organization  of  our  govern 
ment,  and  vigor  in  its  operations.  This  purpose  can  never 
be  accomplished  but  by  the  establishment  of  some  select 
body,  formed  peculiarly  upon  this  principle.  There  are 
few  positions  more  demonstrable  than  that  there  should  be 
in  every  republic  some  permanent  body  to  correct  the  preju 
dices,  check  the  intemperate  passions,  and  regulate  the  fluctu 
ations  of  a  popular  assembly.  It  is  evident  that  a  body 
instituted  for  these  purposes  must  be  so  formed  as  to  ex 
clude  as  much  as  possible  from  its  own  character  those  in 
firmities  and  that  mutability  which  it  is  designed  to  remedy. 
It  is  therefore  necessary  that  it  should  be  small,  that  it 
should  hold  its  authority  during  a  considerable  period,  and 
that  it  should  have  such  an  independence  in  the  exercise 
of  its  powers  as  will  divest  it  as  much  as  possible  of  local 
prejudices.  It  should  be  so  formed  as  to  be  the  center  of 
political  knowledge,  to  pursue  always  a  steady  line  of  con 
duct,  and  to  reduce  every  irregular  propensity  to  system. 
Without  this  establishment,  we  may  make  experiments  with 
out  end,  but  shall  never  have  an  efficient  government. 


74  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

It  is  an  unquestionable  truth,  that  the  body  of  the  people 
in  every  country  desire  sincerely  its  prosperity ;  but  it  is 
equally  unquestionable,  that  they  do  not  possess  the  dis 
cernment  and  stability  necessary  for  systematic  government. 
To  deny  that  they  are  frequently  led  into  the  grossest  errors 
by  misinformation  and  passion,  would  be  a  flattery  which 
their  own  good  sense  must  despise.  That  branch  of  ad 
ministration  especially,  which  involves  our  political  relations 
with  foreign  States,  a  community  will  ever  be  incompetent 
to.  These  truths  are  not  often  held  up  in  public  assemblies, 
but  they  cannot  be  unknown  to  any  who  hear  me.  From 
these  principles  it  follows,  that  there  ought  to  be  two  distinct 
bodies  in  our  government :  one,  which  shall  be  immediately 
constituted  by  and  peculiarly  represent  the  people,  and  pos 
sess  all  the  popular  features ;  another,  formed  upon  the  prin 
ciple  and  for  the  purposes  before  explained.  Such  consid 
erations  as  these  induced  the  Convention  who  formed  your 
State  Constitution,  to  institute  a  Senate  upon  the  present 
plan.  The  history  of  ancient  and  modern  republics  had 
taught  them,  that  many  of  the  evils  which  these  republics 
had  suffered,  arose  from  the  want  of  a  certain  balance  and 
mutual  control  indispensable  to  a  wise  administration;  they 
were  convinced  that  popular  assemblies  are  frequently  mis 
guided  by  ignorance,  by  sudden  impulses  and  the  intrigues 
of  ambitious  men ;  and  that  some  firm  barrier  against  these 
operations  was  necessary ;  they,  therefore,  instituted  your 
Senate,  and  the  benefits  we  have  experienced  have  fully 
justified  their  conceptions.  .  .  . 

Gentlemen,  in  their  reasoning,  have  placed  the  interests 
of  the  several  States  and  those  of  the  United  States  in  con- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  75 

trast;  this  is  not  a  fair  view  of  the  subject;  they  mast  neces 
sarily  be  involved  in  each  other.  What  we  apprehend  is, 
that  some  sinister  prejudice,  or  some  prevailing  passion, 
may  assume  the  form  of  a  genuine  interest.  The  influence 
of  these  is  as  powerful  as  the  most  permanent  conviction  of 
the  public  good;  and  against  this  influence  we  ought  to 
provide.  The  local  interests  of  a  State  ought  in  every  case 
to  give  way  to  the  interests  of  the  Union ;  for  when  a  sacri 
fice  of  one  or  the  other  is  necessary,  the  former  becomes 
only  an  apparent,  partial  interest,  and  should  yield,  on  the 
principle  that  the  small  good  ought  never  to  oppose  the 
great  one.  When  you  assemble  from  your  several  counties 
in  the  Legislature,  were  every  member  to  be  guided  only 
by  the  apparent  interests  of  his  county,  government  would 
be  impracticable.  There  must  be  a  perpetual  accommoda 
tion  and  sacrifice  of  local  advantages  to  general  expediency ; 
but  the  spirit  of  a  mere  popular  assembly  would  rarely  be 
actuated  by  this  important  principle.  It  is  therefore  abso 
lutely  necessary  that  the  Senate  should  be  so  formed,  as  to 
be  unbiased  by  false  conceptions  of  the  real  interests,  or 
undue  attachment  to  the  apparent  good  of  their  several 
States. 

Gentlemen  indulge  too  many  unreasonable  apprehensions 
of  danger  to  the  State  governments;  they  seem  to  suppose 
that  the  moment  you  put  men  into  a  national  council,  they 
become  corrupt  and  tyrannical,  and  lose  all  their  affection 
for  their  fellow-citizens.  But  can  we  imagine  that  the 
Senators  will  ever  be  so  insensible  of  their  own  advantage, 
as  to  sacrifice  the  genuine  interest  of  their  constituents? 
The  State  governments  are  essentially  necessary  to  the  form 


76  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

and  spirit  of  the  general  system.  As  long,  therefore,  as 
Congress  has  a  full  conviction  of  this  necessity,  they  must, 
even  upon  principles  purely  national,  have  as  firm  an  at 
tachment  to  the  one  as  to  the  other.  This  conviction  can 
never  leave  them,  unless  they  become  madmen.  While  the 
Constitution  continues  to  be  read,  and  its  principle  known, 
the  States  must,  by  every  rational  man,  be  considered  as 
essential,  component  parts  of  the  Union;  and  therefore  the 
idea  of  sacrificing  the  former  to  the  latter  is  wholly  inad 
missible. 

The  objectors  do  not  advert  to  the  natural  strength  and 
resources  of  State  governments,  which  will  ever  give  them 
an  important  superiority  over  the  general  government.  If 
we  compare  the  nature  of  their  different  powers,  or  the 
means  of  popular  influence  which  each  possesses,  we  shall 
find  the  advantage  entirely  on  the  side  of  the  States.  This 
consideration,  important  as  it  is,  seems  to  have  been  little 
attended  to.  The  aggregate  number  of  Representatives 
throughout  the  States  may  be  two  thousand.  Their  per 
sonal  influence  will,  therefore,  be  proportionately  more  ex 
tensive  than  that  of  one  or  two  hundred  men  in  Congress. 
The  State  establishments  of  civil  and  military  officers  of 
every  description,  infinitely  surpassing  in  number  any  pos 
sible  correspondent  establishments  in  the  general  govern 
ment,  will  create  such  an  extent  and  complication  of  attach 
ments,  as  will  ever  secure  the  predilection  and  support  of 
the  people.  Whenever,  therefore,  Congress  shall  meditate 
any  infringement  of  the  State  Constitutions,  the  great  body 
of  the  people  will  naturally  take  part  with  their  domestic 
representatives.  Can  the  general  government  withstand 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  77 

such  a  united  opposition?  Will  the  people  suffer  them 
selves  to  be  stripped  of  their  privileges?  Will  they  suffer 
their  Legislatures  to  be  reduced  to  a  shadow  and  a  name? 
The  idea  is  shocking  to  common-sense. 

From-  the  circumstances  already  explained,  and  many 
others  which  might  be  mentioned,  results  a  complicated, 
irresistible  check,  which  must  ever  support  the  existence 
and  importance  of  the  State  governments.  The  danger,  if 
any  exists,  flows  from  an  opposite  source.  The  probable 
evil  is,  that  the  general  government  will  be  too  dependent 
on  the  State  Legislatures,  too  much  governed  by  their 
prejudices,  and  too  obsequious  to  their  humors;  that  the 
States,  with  every  power  in  their  hands,  will  make  en 
croachments  on  the  national  authority,  till  the  Union  is 
weakened  and  dissolved. 

Every  member  must  have  been  struck  with  an  observa 
tion  of  a  gentleman  from  Albany.  Do  what  you  will,  says 
he,  local  prejudices  and  opinions  will  go  into  the  govern 
ment.  What?  shall  we  then  form  a  Constitution  to  cherish 
and  strengthen  these  prejudices?  Shall  we  confirm  the 
distemper,  instead  of  remedying  it.  It  is  undeniable  that 
there  must  be  a  control  somewhere.  Either  the  general 
interest  is  to  control  the  particular  interests,  or  the  con 
trary.  If  the  former,  then  certainly  the  government  ought 
to  be  so  framed,  as  to  render  the  power  of  control  efficient 
to  all  intents  and  purposes ;  if  the  latter,  a  striking  absurd 
ity  follows ;  the  controlling  powers  must  be  as  numerous  as 
the  varying  interests,  and  the  operations  of  the  government 
must  therefore  cease ;  for  the  moment  you  accommodate 
these  different  interests,  which  is  the  only  way  to  set  the 


78  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

government  in  motion,  you  establish  a  controlling  power. 
Thus,  whatever  constitutional  provisions  are  made  to  the 
contrary,  every  government  will  be  at  last  driven  to  the 
necessity  of  subjecting  the  partial  to  the  universal  interest. 
The  gentlemen  ought  always,  in  their  reasoning,  to  distin 
guish  between  the  real,  genuine  good  of  a  State,  and  the 
opinions  and  prejudices  which  may  prevail  respecting  it; 
the  latter  may  be  opposed  to  the  general  good,  and  conse 
quently  ought  to  be  sacrificed ;  the  former  is  BO  involved 
in  it  that  it  never  can  be  sacrificed. 

There  are  certain  social  principles  in  human  nature  from 
which  we  may  draw  the  most  solid  conclusions  with  respect 
to  the  conduct  of  individuals  and  of  communities.  We  love 
our  families  more  than  our  neighbors ;  we  love  our  neigh 
bors  more  than  our  countrymen  in  general.  The  human 
affections,  like  the  solar  heat,  lose  their  intensity  as  they 
depart  from  the  centre,  and  become  languid  in  proportion 
to  the  expansion  of  the  circle  on  which  they  act.  On  these 
principles,  the  attachment  of  the  individual  will  be  first  and 
forever  secured  by  the  State  governments;  they  will  be  a 
mutual  protection  and  support.  Another  source  of  influ 
ence,  which  has  already  been  pointed  out,  is  the  various 
official  connections  in  the  States.  Gentlemen  endeavor  to 
evade  the  force  of  this  by  saying  that  these  offices  will  be 
insignificant.  This  is  by  no  means  true.  The  State  officers 
will  ever  be  important,  because  they  are  necessary  and  use 
ful.  Their  powers  are  such  as  are  extremely  interesting  to 
the  people;  such  as  affect  their  property,  their  liberty,  and 
life.  What  is  more  important  than  the  administration  of 
justice  and  the  execution  of  the  civil  and  criminal  laws? 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  79 

Can  die  State  governments  become  insignificant  while  they 
have  the  power  of  raising  money  independently  and  without 
control  ?  If  they  are  really  useful ;  if  they  are  calculated  to 
promote  the  essential  interests  of  the  people;  they  must 
have  their  confidence  and  support.  The  States  can  never 
lose  their  powers  till  the  whole  people  of  America  are 
robbed  of  their  liberties.  These  must  go  together;  they 
must  support  each  other,  or  meet  one  common  fate.  On  the 
gentleman's  principle,  we  may  safely  trust  the  State  govern 
ments,  though  we  have  no  means  of  resisting  them ;  but  we 
cannot  confide  in  the  national  government,  though  we  have 
an  effectual  constitutional  guard  against  every  encroach 
ment.  This  is  the  essence  of  their  argument,  and  it  is  false 
and  fallacious  beyond  conception. 

With  regard  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  two  governments, 
I  shall  certainly  admit  that  the  Constitution  ought  to  be  so 
formed  as  not  to  prevent  the  States  from  providing  for  their 
own  existence ;  and  I  maintain  that  it  is  so  formed ;  and  that 
their  power  of  providing  for  themselves  is  sufficiently  estab 
lished.  This  is  conceded  by  one  gentleman,  and  in  the  next 
breath  the  concession  is  retracted.  He  says  Congress  has 
but  one  exclusive  right  in  taxation — that  of  duties  on  im 
ports  ;  certainly,  then,  their  other  powers  are  only  concur 
rent.  But  to  take  off  the  force  of  this  obvious  conclusion, 
he  immediately  says  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States  are 
supreme  and  that  where  there  is  one  supreme  there  cannot 
be  a  concurrent  authority ;  and  further,  that  where  the  laws 
of  the  Union  are  supreme,  those  of  the  States  must  be  sub 
ordinate;  because  there  cannot  be  two  supremes.  This  is 
curious  sophistry.  That  two  supreme  powers  cannot  act 


80  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

together  is  false.  They  are  inconsistent  only  when  they 
are  aimed  at  each  other  or  at  one  indivisible  object.  The 
laws  of  the  United  States  are  supreme,  as  to  all  their  proper, 
constitutional  objects;  the  laws  of  the  States  are  supreme  in 
the  same  way.  These  supreme  laws  may  act  on  different 
objects  without  clashing;  or  they  may  operate  on  different 
parts  of  the  same  common  object  with  perfect  harmony. 
Suppose  both  governments  should  lay  a  tax  of  a  penny  on 
a  certain  article ;  has  not  each  an  independent  and  uncon 
trollable  power  to  collect  its  own  tax  ?  The  meaning  of  the 
maxim,  there  cannot  be  two  supremes,  is  simply  this — two 
powers  cannot  be  supreme  over  each  other.  This  meaning 
is  entirely  perverted  by  the  gentlemen.  But,  it  is  said,  dis 
putes  between  collectors  are  to  be  referred  to  the  Federal 
courts.  This  is  again  wandering  in  the  field  of  conjecture. 
But  suppose  the  fact  is  certain,  is  it  not  to  be  presumed 
that  they  will  express  the  true  meaning  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws  ?  Will  they  not  be  bound  to  consider  the  -con 
current  jurisdiction;  to  declare  that  both  the  taxes  shall 
have  equal  operation ;  that  both  the  powers,  in  that  respect, 
are  sovereign  and  co-extensive?  If  they  transgress  their 
duty,  we  are  to  hope  that  they  will  be  punished.  Sir,  we 
can  reason  from  probabilities  alone.  When  we  leave 
common-sense,  and  give  ourselves  up  to  conjecture,  tnere 
can  be  no  certainty,  no  security  in  our  reasonings. 

I  imagine  I  have  stated  to  the  committee  abundant  rea 
sons  to  prove  the  entire  safety  of  the  State  governments 
and  of  the  people.  I  would  go  into  a  more  minute  con 
sideration  of  the  nature  of  the  concurrent  jurisdiction,  and 
the  operation  of  the  laws'  in  relation  to  revenue :  but  at 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  81 

present  I  feel  too  much  indisposed  to  proceed.  I  shall, 
with  leave  of  the  committee,  improve  another  opportunity 
of  expressing  to  them  more  fully  my  ideas  on  this  point.  I 
wish  the  committee  to  remember  that  the  Constitution  under 
examination  is  framed  upon  truly  republican  principles ; 
and  that,  as  it  is  expressly  designed  to  provide  for  the 
common  protection  and  the  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States,  it  must  be  utterly  repugnant  to  this  Constitution  to 
subvert  the  State  governments  or  oppress  the  people. 


THE  UNUSUAL  AND  REMARKABLE 

IN  THE  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
BY  B.  J.  CIGRAND,  M.  S.,  D.  D.  S.» 

OF  all  the  distinguished  men  who  took  part  in  the  build 
ing  of  this  republic,  none  have  a  career  rilled  with 
more  peculiar  events  than  Alexander  Hamilton.  His  life 
contains  so  many  strange  and  unusual  incidents  that  it  can 
be  truly  said  he  had  a  wonderful  record. 

There  is  little  or  nothing  known  of  his  ancestors  other 
than  that  his  father  was  a  Scotchman  and  his  mother  was 
French.  He  was  born  at  Nevis,  West  India,  in  1757,  and 
was  an  orphan  at  an  early  age.  By  birth  he  was  a  British 
subject,  though  his  sympathies  were,  in  early  life,  with  the 
land  of  the  fleur-de-lys.  He  spoke  and  read  English  and 
French,  though  he  preferred  the  latter  when  pursuing  his 
studies. 

A  mere  incident  caused  him  to  come  to  America ;  there 
had  been  a  terrible  storm  on  the  Island,  and  young  Hamil 
ton,  a  lad  of  fourteen,  so  vividly  described  the  hurricane 
that  his  friends  and  relatives  decided  he  should  attend 
school  in  the  American  Colonies.  Pursuant  with  this  inten 
tion  he  was  sent  to  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  where  he  attend 
ed  a  private  school  and  in  one  year  had  mastered  sufficient 
points  in  the  sciences  and  literature  to  admit  him  to  King's 


•National  President  American  Flag  Day  Association,  Dean  Dental  Department 
University  of  Illinois,  Author  of  "History  of  American  Emblems." 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  83 

(Columbia)  College.  At  the  time  of  his  matriculation  he 
was  but  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  following  year  he  made 
an  address  on  Colonial  Grievances,  before  a  popular  assem 
blage  in  New- York  city,  and  his  remarks  attracted  not  only 
Colonial  but  international  attention. 

In  the  following  year  we  find  him  organizing  a  company 
of  artillery  and  hardly  had  the  war  of  Independence  begun 
when  Washington  observed  the  genius  of  Hamilton  and 
appointed  him  his  aid-de-camp.  In  this  capacity,  Hamilton, 
a  mere  boy  of  nineteen,  took  charge  of  the  great  and  im 
portant  correspondence  of  Gen.  George  Washington,  and, 
not  infrequently  this  youth  edited  and  revised  the  docu 
ments  prepared  by  Washington.  Leaving  the  dignified  sta 
tion  of  private  secretary  of  the  commander-in-chief,  he 
took  command  of  a  troop  at  Yorktown,  where  he  displayed 
great  military  tact.  After  the  war  he  gave  his  time  to  law 
and  shortly  we  fifrd  him  in  the  legislative  halls  and  dictat 
ing  the  policy  of  government  and  directing  the  Federal  Con 
vention.  He  practically  shaped  the  destiny  of  our  Federal 
Government.  It  was  his  unanswerable  arguments  which 
made  it  possible  to  have  the  Constitution  adopted  and  it 
was  his  devotion  to  its  meaning  which  changed  a  confed 
eracy  into  a  nation. 

Of  him,   the   lines   of   Byron   may   be   fittingly   applied : 

"There  are  deeds  which  should  not  pass  away 

And  names  which  must  not  wither. 

The  spirit  of  a  single  man 

Makes  that  of  multitudes  take  one  direction 

As  roll  the  waters  to  the  breathing  wind."     . 


84  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

It  was  Hamilton  who  wrote  most  of  the  letters  of  the 
Federalist  which  contained  the  arguments  of  many  distin 
guished  patriots,  who  favored  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  among  those  who  fearlessly  championed  the  pur 
pose  of  this  document  were  Hamilton,  Jay,  Madison  and 
Randolph ;  though  the  latter  and  Mason  wrote  much  in  the 
style  of  a  critique.  What  Thomas  Paine's  "Crisis"  was  to 
pre-Revolutionary  times  the  Federalist  was  to  the  pre-Con- 
stitutional  Government.  If  the  letters  of  these  giants  of 
free  government  had  not  been  published  the  people  could 
not  have  become  intelligent  of  the  character  of  the  Consti 
tution,  and  the  present  Constitution  would  never  have  been 
adopted. 

While  in  the  tents  as  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  Hamil 
ton  conceived  the  idea  of  a  nation — not  a  confederacy.  It 
was  in  September  of  1780  that  he  wrote  to  Duane,  a  mem 
ber  of  Congress,  and  expressed  his  opinion  regarding  state 
sovereignty  and  national  supremacy.  He  was  then  twenty- 
three  years  of  age  and  his  letter  certainly  indicates  a  mature 
mind  relative  to  civic  conditions.  In  this  letter  he  pro 
posed  a  call  of  all  the  states  and  arrange  a  convention  au 
thorized  to  enact  laws  calculating  a  central  and  supreme 
power,  deriving  its  authority  from  the  delegates  from  the 
several  Colonies  or  States.  He  said:  "Some  of  the  lines 
of  the  army,  but  for  the  influence  of  Washington,  would 
obey  their  States  in  opposition  to  Congress — Congress 
should  have  complete  sovereignty  in  all  that  relates  to  war, 
peace,  trade,  finance,  foreign  affairs,  armies,  fleets,  fortifi 
cations,  coining  money,  establishing  banks,  imposing  land 
tax,  poll  tax,  duties  on  trade,  and  the  unoccupied  lands." 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  85 

He  added:  'The  idea  of  an  uncontrollable  sovereignty  in 
each  State  will  defeat  the  powers  of  Congress  and  make 
our  Union  feeble  and  precarious."  Think  of  a  youth  mak 
ing  these  proposals  and  predicting  the  State  rights — issues 
as  early  as  I/So,  and  take  into  consideration  the  lives  and 
suffering  of  the  war  of  '61  to  establish  that  which  Hamilton 
so  clearly  foretold  when  a  lad  in  the  struggling  continental 
army. 

Mr.  Hamilton  has  been  criticised  by  many  writers  for 
having  objected  to  offering  of  prayer  at  the  Federal  Con 
ventions.  His  critics  have  made  it  appear  that  he  was  ir 
religious  and  did  not  believe  in  Divine  aid,  when  the  facts 
in  the  case  prove  quite  the  opposite. 

The  motive  which  prompted  Mr.  Hamilton  to  object  to 
Dr.  Franklin's  motion  asking  that  some  clergyman  be  in 
vited  to  open  the  meetings  with  prayer  was  not  understood 
until  the  recent  publication  of  the  private  notes  and  memo 
randa  of  Mr.  James  Madison.  These  items  and  observations 
made  by  Mr.  Madison  during  the  stormy  days  of  the  Fed 
eral  Convention  throw  new  light  on  the  matter  in  question. 

Mr.  Madison  made  extensive  notes  regarding  the  proceed 
ings  of  this  great  body  and  his  writings  began  with  Mon 
day,  May  I4th,  1787,  and  end  with  Monday,  September 
1 7th,  1787.  During  these  weeks  the  delegates  labored  with 
the  most  perplexing  proposition  that  ever  confronted  a 
people  seeking  self-government.  The  diversity  of  opinion 
and  the  diversity  of  interests  seemed  to  foreshadow  that  the 
several  Colonies  would  not  unite  on  some  plain  fundamen- 
ta'  basis  of  federal  government.  And  it  was  during  a  severe 


86  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

verbal  seige  that  Dr.  Franklin  made  the  following  address, 
which  deserves  to  be  incorporated  in  this  sketch : 

"Mr.  President :  The  small  progress  we  have  made  after 
four  or  five  weeks'  close  attendance  and  continual  reason 
ings  with  each  other,  our  different  sentiments  on  almost 
every  question,  several  of  the  last  producing  as  many  Noes 
as  Ayes,  is  methinks  as  melancholy  proof  of  the  imperfec 
tion  of  the  human  understanding.  We  indeed  seem  to  feel 
our  own  want  of  political  wisdom,  since  we  have  been  run 
ning  all  about  in  search  of  it.  We  have  gone  back  to  an 
cient  history  for  models  of  government,  and  examined  the 
different  forms  of  those  republics,  which,  having  been  orig 
inally  formed  with  the  seeds  of  their  own  dissolution,  now 
no  longer  exist ;  and  we  have  viewed  modern  states  all 
around  Europe,  but  find  none  of  their  constitutions  suitable 
to  our  circumstances. 

"In  this  situation  of  this  assembly,  groping,  as  it  were,  in 
the  dark,  to  find  political  truth,  and  scarce  able  to  distin 
guish  it  when  presented  to  us,  how  has  it  happened,  sir, 
that  we  have  not  'hitherto  once  thought  of  humbly  applying 
to  the  Father  of  Lights  to  (lluminate  our  understanding? 
In  the  beginning  of  the  contest  with  Britain,  when  we  were 
sensible  of  danger,  we  had  daily  prayers  in  this  room  for 
divine  protection  ?  Our  prayers,  sir,  were  heard ;  and  they 
were  graciously  answered.  All  of  us,  who  were  engaged  in 
this  struggle,  must  have  observed  frequent  instances  of  a 
superintending  Providence  in  our  favor.  To  that  kind  Prov 
idence  we  owe  this  happy  opportunity  of  consulting  in  peace 
the  means  of  establishing  our  future  national  felicity.  And 
have  we  now  forgotten  that  powerful  friend?  or  do  we  im- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  87 

agine  we  no  longer  need  his  assistance — I  have  lived,  sir,  a 
long  time ;  and  the  longer  I  live  the  more  convincing  proofs 
I  see  of  this  truth,  That  God  governs  in  the  affairs  of  men ! 
And  if  a  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  the  ground  without  his  no 
tice,  is  it  probable  that  an  empire  can  rise  without  his  aid? 
We  have  been  assured,  sir,  in  the  Sacred  Writings,  that  'ex 
cept  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build 
it.'  I  firmly  believe  this:  and  I  also  believe,  that  without 
his  concurring  aid,  we  shall  succeed  in  this  political  build 
ing  no  better  than  the  builders  of  Babel :  we  shall  be  di 
vided  by  our  little  partial  local  interests,  our  projects  will  be 
confounded,  and  we  ourselves  shall  become  a  reproach  and 
a  byword  down  to  future  ages.  And  what  is  worse,  man 
kind  may  hereafter,  from  this  unfortunate  instance,  despair 
of  establishing  government  by  human  wisdom  and  leave  it 
to  chance,  war  and  conquest. 

"I  therefore  beg  leave  to  move,  that  henceforth  prayers, 
imploring  the  assistance  of  heaven,  and  its  blessing  on  our 
deliberations,  be  held  in  this  assembly  every  morning  before 
we  proceed  to  business ;  and  that  one  or  more  of  the  clergy 
of  this  city  be  requested  to  officiate  in  that  service." 

Mr.  Sherman  seconded  the  motion  and  this  brought  the 
matter  before  the  convention ;  a  most  heated  debate  fol 
lowed.  Dr.  Franklin's  private  notes  on  the  Convention  in 
clude  his  address  favoring  prayer,  and  in  his  note-book, 
referring  to  the  motion,  he  made  memoranda  of  Col.  Ham 
ilton's  objection  to  prayer,  but  did  not  explain  on  what 
grounds  Hamilton  refused  to  vote  for  the  motion.  The 
reader  naturally  would  be  inclined  to  the  belief  that  Ham 
ilton's  objections  were  of  an  irreligious  character. 


88  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

The  writings  of  James  Madison  clear  the  subject  of  any 
such  intentions,  and  the  following  from  Madison  is  of  great 
interest : 

"Mr.  Hamilton  and  several  others  expressed  their  appre 
hensions,  that,  however  proper  such  a  resolution  might  have 
been  at  the  beginning  of  the  Convention,  it  might  at  this 
late  date  and  day,  in  the  first  place  bring  on  it  some  dis 
agreeable  animadversions;  and  in  the  second,  lead  the 
public  to  believe  that  the  embarrassments  and  dissensions 
within  the  Convention  had  suggested  this  measure.  It  was 
answered  by  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Sherman  and  others  that  the 
past  omission  of  a  duty  could  not  justify  a  further  omission ; 
that  the  rejection  of  such  a  proposition  would  expose  the 
convention  to  more  unpleasant  animadversions  than  the 
adoption  of  it ;  and  that  the  alarm  out  of  doors  that  might 
be  excited  for  the  state  of  things  within  would  at  least  be  as 
likely  to  do  good  as  ill. 

"Mr.  Williamson  observed  that  the  true  cause  of  the  omis 
sion  could  not  be  mistaken.  The  convention  had  no  funds. 

"Mr.  Randolph  proposed,  in  order  to  give  a  favorable  as 
pect  to  the  measure,  that  a  sermon  be  preached  at  the 
request  of  the  convention  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  the  an 
niversary  of  Independence ;  and  henceforth  prayers,  etc., 
to  be  read  in  the  Convention  every  morning.  Doctor  Frank 
lin  seconded  the  motion.  After  several  unsuccessful  at 
tempts  for  silently  postponing  this  matter  by  adjourning,  the 
adjournment  was  at  length  carried,  without  any  vote  on  the 
(Franklin  or  Randolph)  motion." 

These  lines  from  the  pen  of  Madison  make  it  possible  to 
understand  Hamilton's  attitude  relative  to  Franklin's  mo 
tion. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  89 

The  debates  relative  to  the  proposed  constitution  were 
indeed  heated  arguments  and  in  many  hamlets  throughout 
the  States  differences  of  opinion  were  settled  with  sword 
and  pistol. 

Among  the  many  who  took  issue  with  Col.  Hamilton  on 
matters  pertaining  to  the  new  constitution  was  one  Eleazer 
Oswald,  Revolutionary  patriot  and  man  of  distinction.  He 
was  especially  antagonistic  to  the  Hamiltonian  idea  of  gov 
ernment  and  severely  criticised  the  proposed  Federal  Con 
stitution.  Mr.  Oswald  so  bitterly  assailed  the  arguments 
of  Hamilton  that  the  latter  gave  offense,  which  called  for 
adjustment.  Oswald  sent  a  challenge  to  Hamilton  and  mat 
ters  were  about  to  be  arranged  when  the  duel  was  averted 
through  the  interference  of  the  friends  of  both  gentlemen. 

This  was  the  first  challenge  sent  Hamilton,  and  it  illus 
trates  the  tendency  of  those  times,  to  adjudicate  differences 
and  affairs  of  honor  by  "lead  or  steel." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1797  a  sharp  and  unfriendly  letter 
was  received  from  James  Monroe,  and  Hamilton  in  reply 
ing  did  not  definitely  state  his  position  regarding  a  certain 
controversy  and  Monroe  sent  him  a  challenge  to  fight  a 
duel.  The  letter  from  Monroe  indicated  an  anxiety  to 
meet  Hamilton  on  the  field  of  combat,  and  stated  in  his  let 
ter  of  challenge  that  Col.  Aaron  Burr  would  deliver  the 
letter  and  make  all  arrangements  for  the  duel.  It  seems 
strange  that  Burr  should  be  a  part  of  this  affair.  Can  it  be 
that  he  fanned  the  flame  which  he  thought  would  mean  the 
distruction  of  Hamilton?  Did  he  encourage  Monroe  to 
enter  upon  this  event,  and  is  it  not  possible  that  his  dislike 
for  Hamilton  even  at  this  early  date  induced  him  to  agitate 


9o  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

the  differences  between  Hamilton  and  Monroe  until  they 
had  developed  into  a  quarrel  and  thus  necessitated  a  chal 
lenge  to  a  duel? 

Not  all  of  the  correlated  correspondence  can  be  found,  but 
sufficient  evidence  is  extant  to  show  that  Aaron  Burr  was 
instrumental  in  effecting  arrangements  for  a  duel  between 
these  two  distinguished  statesmen.  Hamilton's  reply  to  the 
proposed  duel  cannot  be  found  and  the  cause  for  abandoning 
the  duel  is  not  known.  The  letter  of  Monroe  is  not  a  part 
of  the  published  accounts  of  Monroe,  Hamilton  or  Burr. 
James  Monroe's  letter  read  as  follows : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  Aug't  6th,  1797. 

"Sir: — I  do  not  clearly  understand  the  import  of  your 
letter  of  the  4th  instant  and  therefore  desire  an  explana 
tion.  With  this  in  view  I  will  give  you  an  explanation  of 
mine  which  preceded  it. 

"Seeing  no  adequate  cause  by  anything  in  our  late  cor 
respondence  why  I  should  give  a  challenge  to  you,  I  own 
it  was  not  my  intention  to  give  or  even  provoke  one  by  any 
thing  contained  in  those  letters.  I  meant  only  to  observe 
that  I  should  stand  on  the  defensive,  and  receive  one  in  case 
you  thought  fit  to  give  it.  If,  therefore,  you  were  under 
a  contrary  impression,  I  frankly  own  you  are  mistaken.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  meant  this  last  letter  as  a  challenge 
to  me,  I  have  then  to  request  that  you  will  say  so,  and  in 
which  have  to  inform  you  that  my  friend  Col.  Burr,  who 
will  present  you  this,  and  who  will  communicate  with  you 
on  this  subject,  is  authorized  to  give  my  answer  to  it  and 
to  make  arrangements  as  may  be  suitable  in  such  an  event. 
I  am,  with  due  respect,  your  obt.  servant. 

JAMES  MONROE/' 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  9l 

The  lives  of  Morris  and  Hamilton  are  so  completely  yoked 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  one  is  an  understanding  of  the 
other.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  they  were  both  born  on 
foreign  soil  and  are  the  greatest  examples  of  enthusiastic 
patriotism  found  among  the  adopted  sons.  Both  came  to 
this  country  when  mere  boys  and  both  became  the  recog 
nized  financiers  of  the  day. 

But  to  Robert  Morris,  more  than  to  any  other  individual, 
Hamilton  owes  his  fame  as  a  national  character.  It  is  true 
Hamilton  displayed  tact  and  demonstrated  his  statesman 
ship  while  an  aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  Washington,  but  the  lat 
ter,  though  admiring  the  talents  of  Hamilton,  rather  be 
lieved  him  indiscrete,  hasty  in  judgment  and  high  spirited 
in  temper;  and  Washington  admired  Hamilton  for  his  dar 
ing  disposition  but  disliked  his  impulsive  moods.  To  Morris 
we  must  look  for  the  causes  which  gave  Hamilton  weight 
in  the  political  world  of  the  New  Republic.  Though  the 
general  histories  and  biographies  do  not  credit  Morris  with 
great  influence  in  this  particular,  yet  a  few  facts  have  been 
gathered  which  clearly  indicate  the  strength  of  the  Morris 

character. 

i 

Personal  histories  tell  of  the  life  and  career  of  this  re 
markable  man  more  thoroughly  than  any  of  the  volumes 
of  general  information,  and  the  story  is  one  full  of  deep  in 
terest.  Robert  Morris  was  a  remarkably  well  informed 
man,  rivaling,  indeed,  in  general  intelligence,  the  sage  of 
those  times,  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Some  of  the  biographers  have  written  statements  seeming 
ly  intended  to  convey  the  impression  that  Washington 
thought  little  of  the  counsel  of  Morris,  and  that  in  later 


92  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

years  a  coolness  existed  between  them.  Careful  investiga 
tion,  however,  will  show  that  these  two  Revolutionary  pa 
triots  were  the  closest  of  friends.  Few  incidents  demon 
strate  this  relation  better  than  the  fact  that  when  Mrs. 
Washington  journeyed  from  Mount  Vernon  to  take  posses 
sion  of  the  first  executive  mansion  in  New  York,  Mrs.  Mor 
ris  accompanied  her  from  Philadelphia,  and  when  they  ar 
rived  in  New  York  harbor  they  were  met  by  General  Wash 
ington  and  Robert  Morris.  The  writings  of  the  Morris  fam 
ily  all  show  how  close  and  sincere  was  this  friendship,  but 
they  prove  another  thing  of  much  interest  to  those  who  like 
to  delve  into  the  records  of  the  past  and  search  out  the 
truth.  That  is,  that  Mrs.  Washington,  in  spite  of  the  nu 
merous  histories  containing  full  descriptions  of  her  appear 
ance  at  the  inaugural  ceremony  and  the  subsequent  ball  and 
dinner,  and  even  vivid  pictures  of  the  costumes  she  wore  on 
those  occasions,  was  not  at  the  inauguration  at  all,  and  did 
not  rejoin  her  husband  till  four  weeks  afterward. 

Regarding  many  of  the  most  interesting  things  in  the 
history  of  our  country  the  government  possesses  no  official 
records.  It  remains  for  us  to  gather  the  story  of  nearly 
all  these  occurrences  from  private  diaries  and  correspond 
ence  of  those  who  lived  and  moved  through  the  stirring 
scenes  of  our  Revolutionary  period. 

From  Maclay,  that  eccentric  continental,  we  can  gather 
much  in  this  way  that  is  of  the  greatest  interest. 

Washington  was  always  a  faithful  friend  of  Robert  Mor 
ris,  and  it  was  the  political  influence  and  the  motion  of  the 
latter  that  made  him  president  of  the  federal  convention 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  93 

which  formulated  the  government  under  which  we  live  to 
day. 

The  act  of  Martha  Washington  in  burning  all  the  private 
correspondence  of  members  of  her  family  deprived  her 
country  of  a  great  mass  of  interesting  material,  but  those 
communications  of  her  own  written  to  Mrs.  Morris  and  still 
preserved  throw  a  new  light  on  many  topics  of  historic  in 
terest. 

There  was  not  a  man  of  continental  times  who  did  more 
for  Washington  or  befriended  him  so  repeatedly  than  Rob 
ert  Morris. 

Our  nation  during  its  formative  period  required  aid  of 
every  description — moral,  patriotic  and  financial — and  this 
latter  need  was  not  the  least  important.  To  Robert  Morris, 
more  than  to  any  other  man  connected  with  the  Revolu 
tion,  this  nation  is  indebted  for  financial  assistance  and  coun 
sel,  rendered  at  a  time  when  the  fortunes  of  the  Colonials 
were  at  a  very  low  ebb,  and  when  money,  as  much  as  blood 
and  bravery,  meant  everything  to  the  success  of  the  strug 
gle. 

Though  he  was  born  across  the  sea,  he  was  a  loyal  pa 
triot.  At  an  early  age,  his  great  thirst  for  knowledge  led 
him  to  a  full  appreciation  of  the  influences  of  toleration  and 
liberality,  and  though  he  stood  out  against  the  adoption  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  he  did  it  on  the  ground  that 
the  Colonies  were  not  sufficiently  prepared  for  so  terrible  a 
conflict. 

But  when  he  heard  the  earnest  words  of  John  Adams  and 
Benjamin  Franklin  he  eagerly  subscribed  his  name  to  the 
sacred  document,  and  afterward  showed  by  his  acts  how 
loval  a  son  of  the  new  nation  he  was. 


94  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

Once  satisfied  that  the  Colonies  had  a  fighting  chance,  he 
threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  the  work.  Without  his 
wonderful  ability  as  a  financier  and  his  enthusiasm  for  the 
cause  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  Colonials  would  have 
been  forced  to  submit  and  the  new  government  destroyed. 

When  all  seemed  lost,  and  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  ragged  and  starving,  saw  nothing  but  defeat  and  de 
spair  ahead  of  them,  he  opened  his  coffers  and  personally 
contributed  $1,400,000  to  what  seemed  to  all  a  lost  cause. 
It  was  this  magnificent  gift  of  Morris'  that  made  the  vic 
tory  of  Trenton  possible.  He  stayed  in  Philadelphia,  brav 
ing  the  enemy,  continually  sent  information  to  Washington, 
and  beggared  himself  for  the  army,  even  exhausting  his  per 
sonal  credit  after  his  money  had  gone — credit  at  that  time 
far  more  powerful  than  1  hat  of  the  Continental  Congress  it 
self.  The  name  of  "Bobby  Morris"  was  on  the  lips  of  every 
soldier  of  America  in  those  days. 

It  was  this  character  of  a  man  who  could  rightly  ask  fa 
vors  of  Washington,  and  the  latter  fully  appreciated  the 
goodness  and  greatness  of  Morris. 

When  General  Washington  was  about  to  select  his  cabinet 
he  offered  the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
Morris,  but  it  was  declined.  Washington  pressed  his  offer, 
but  when  it  was  refused  a  second  time  he  permitted  Morris 
to  name  the  man. 

This  was  showing  an  unusual  regard  for  the  judgment  of 
Morris  and  explains  fully  the  friendship  existing  between 
Washington  and  Morris.  The  jnature  of  the  cabinet  posi 
tion  was  one,  deserving  the  most  careful  student  of  financial 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  95 

affairs,  and  Robert  Morris  did  not  search  long  to  find  the 
individual  whom  he  thought  competent  and  acceptable. 
While  Mr.  Morris  was  the  financial  agent  of  the  Continental 
government  he  became  intimately  acquainted  with  a  promis 
ing  young  man ;  he  learned  to  value  the  suggestions  of  the 
young  and  aspiring  gentleman.  This  youth  had  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  formation  of  the  new  machinery  of  self- 
government  and  had  repeatedly  given  evidence  of  deep 
knowledge  of  political  affairs.  This  gentleman  was  the 
close  bosom  friend  of  Morris  and  he  eagerly  sought  an  op 
portunity  of  aiding  so  ambitious  a  citizen.  These  gentle 
men  had  grown  closer  as  their  acquaintance  extended  and 
when  Gen.  Washington  urged  Mr.  Morris  to  nominate  the 
first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  he  presented  the  name  of 
Alexander  Hamilton. 

The  suggestion  was  rather  a  surprise  to  Washington, 
as  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  president-elect  to  have  at  his 
council  board  men  of  mature  age ;  ministers  who  had  learn 
ed  to  hesitate ;  heads  of  departments  who  deliberated  calmly. 

But  Mr.  Morris  appointed  Hamilton — and  Washington 
true  to  his  proffer  accepted  the  nomination. 

Hamilton  was  at  that  time  but  thirty-two  years  of  age 
and  under  present  existing  circumstances  could  not  have  be 
come  an  adviser  to  the  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
succession  act  passed  under  the  Cleveland  administration 
makes  the  cabinet  members  eligible  to  the  presidency,  in 
the  event  of  death  or  inability  of  the  president,  vice-presi 
dent  and  secretary  of  state ;  hence  according  to  the  Consti 
tution  which  reads:  No  person  shall  "be  eligible  to  that 


96  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

office  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  thirty-five 
years." 

Although  Hamilton  was  the  junior  member  (in  age)  of 
the  cabinet  he  was  the  senior  in  point  of  influence. 

So  far  as  Washington's  first  cabinet  was  concerned,  it 
was  not  a  happy  expedient,  for  two  more  irreconcilable 
political  thinkers  than  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  never  met 
around  a  common  council-board.  As  Jefferson  once  said: 
"We  are  pitted  against  each  other  like  game-cocks."  Ran 
dolph  the  Attorney-General  sided  with  Jefferson  and  Knox, 
the  Secretary  of  War  voted  with  Hamilton ;  thus  leaving 
Washington  obligated  to  decide  between  them ;  this  general 
ly  meant  that  Hamilton  was  the  victor.  When  it  came  to 
questions  requiring  constitutional  interpretation  Hamilton 
was  especially  well  informed,  since  he  was  a  delegate  to  the 
convention  which  formulated  the  basic  law,  and  Jefferson 
not  being  present  was  considerably  out  of  touch  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Convention.  This  latter  element  made  Jeffer 
son  weak,  in  just  such  points  where  Hamilton  was  strong. 

The  year  1796  brought  to  the  mind  of  George  Washing 
ton  a  proposition  which  disturbed  him  considerably.  His 
second  term  as  chief  executive  of  the  young  nation  was 
drawing  to  a  close  and  the  people  were  anxious  he  should 
accept  a  third  term ;  the  eminent  statesman  and  the  Ameri 
can  citizens  eagerly  sought  information  on  this  interesting 
topic;  the  population  in  all  sections  of  the  country  favored 
the  idea  of  continuing  him  in  office.  Washington  had 
gained  the  individual  confidences  of  the  masses  and  the  tone 
of  his  personal  mail  and  the  general  character  of  the  news- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


97 


paper  contributions  indicated  a  cheerful  disposition  toward 
the  third  term  project. 

The  proposition  demanded  the  earnest  and  most  sincere 
deliberation  of  Gen.  Washington.  Personally  he  was  weary 
of  the  "tasks  of  state,"  yet  he  felt  kindly  disposed  to  re 
main  in  the  office  of  President.  The  people  were  restless 
and  there  was  a  spirit  abroad  which  expressed  the  thought 
that  the  young  republic  would  degenerate  without  him  who 
was  "first  in  war,  first  in  peace  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen." 

To  meet  the  demands  of  the  hour  and  declare  himself  on 
so  delicate  a  problem  needed  reflection.  Washington  sel 
dom  seemed  hurried  and  he  took  especial  pains  to  delay 
this  answer  to  the  people's  interrogation.  After  considering 
the  matter  he  decided  it  required  advice  from  those  high 
in  the  esteem  of  the  people  and  he  chose  to  learn  the  exact 
status  of  affairs  before  he  would  venture  giving  his  final 
reply.  He  well  knew  that  the  answer  must  be  decisive  and 
that  the  general  tone  of  the  document  must  be  in  sincere 
terms  and  in  strict  accord  with  the  unwritten  meaning  of 
the  organic  law.  He  desired  that  it  should  contain  logic 
and  clear  argument  and  felt  it  an  excellent  opportunity  to 
advise  or  warn  the  people  of  impending  dangers,  to  portray 
the  past  and  in  a  measure  predict  the  future  and  lend  such 
force  to  republican  government  as  his  eight  years  in  office 
exemplified.  These  were  the  basic  ideals  he  desired  the  an 
swer  to  contain. 

But  the  great  Washington,  admired  by  all  the  world  for 
his  wisdom,  felt  his  lack  of  capacity  to  satisfactorily  deal 
with  the  problem.  He  regretted  that  Mr.  Hamilton  was 


98  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

no  longer  a  part  of  his  official  family, — Hamilton  having 
resigned  in  January  of  1795 — yet  he  might  be  induced  to 
lend  his  aid.  Washington  rested  his  mind  when  Hamilton 
consente4  to  assist  in  the  labors  of  this  paper  of  national- 
yes,  international  concern.  Hamilton  quickly  realized  the 
needs  of  the  address ;  he  was  familiar  with  the  notes  of  Gen. 
Washington  and  could  readily  clothe  these  mere  frames  into 
gorgeous  characters.  Hamilton  learned  the  meaning  of 
Washington's  brief  comments  years  before  when  a  secre 
tary  to  the  great  Revolutionary  commander,  and  thoroughly 
understood  the  true  meaning  of  all  requirements. 

Washington  issued  this  memorable  letter,  known  as  his 
"Farewell  Address,"  September  iQth,  1796.  It  was  re 
ceived  as  a  master  stroke  and  throughout  the  world  admired 
for  the  candor  and  clearness  of  statement.  No  issue  was 
avoided,  no  problem  dodged.  All  received  the  generous 
consideration  of  one  filled  with  honor,  patriotism  and  Chris 
tian  fortitude.  The  statesmen  of  the  times  pronounced  it 
of  such  merit  that  it  was  placed  on  a  par  with  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  as  regards  its  expression  of  Ameri 
canisms. 

The  following  communication  sent  by  Hamilton  to  Wash 
ington,  corroborates  the  foregoing: — 

"New  York,  May  loth,  1796.— Sir:  When  last  in  Phila 
delphia,  you  mentioned  to  me  your  wish,  that  I  should  re 
dress  a  certain  paper,  which  you  had  prepared.  As  it  is 
important,  that  a  thing  of  this  kind  should  be  done  with 
great  care,  and  much  at  leisure,  touched  and  retouched,  I 
submit  a  wish,  that,  as  soon  as  you  have  given  it  the  body 
you  mean  it  to  have,  it  may  be  sent  to  me." 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  99 

This  letter  was  written  by  Hamilton  about  four  months 
before  the  address  was  published  and  indicates  the  interest 
he  took  in  this  matter.  Of  course  we  would  all  be  deeply 
concerned  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  "Did  Hamilton  dic 
tate  the  real  policy  of  this  great  state  paper."  Possibly  the 
future  may  bring  an  answer ;  if  it  does  it  will  probably  come 
from  private  correspondence. 

But  the  fact  is  established  that  Hamilton  labored  on  the 
paper,  that  he  edited  it,  and  gave  it  the  rhetorical  charac 
ter;  and  Hamilton  impressed  Washington  with  the  import 
ance  of  nationalizing  issues.  The  testimony  of  Mr.  John 
Jay  is  added,  since  he  was  concerned  in  the  Farewell  Ad 
dress.  This  valuable  letter  was  written  to  Richard  Peters 
and  can  be  found  in  Memoirs  of  Historical  Society  of  Penn., 
Vol.  I,  page  249.  It  reads : 

''Some  time  before  the  address  appeared,"  he  says,  "Col 
onel  Hamilton  informed  me  that  he  had  received  a  letter 
from  President  Washington,  and  with  it  the  draft  of  a  Fare 
well  Address,  which  the  President  had  prepared,  and  on 
which  he  requested  our  opinion.  He  then  proposed  that  we 
should  fix  on  a  day  for  an  interview  at  my  house  on  the 
subject.  A  day  was  accordingly  appointed,  and  on  that  day 
Colonel  Hamilton  attended.  He  observed  to  me  in  words 
to  this  effect;  that,  after  having  read  and  examined  the 
draft,  it  appeared  to  him  to  be  susceptible  of  improvement ; 
that  he  thought  the  easier  and  best  way  was  to  leave  the 
draft  untouched,  and  in  its  fair  state,  and  to  write  the  whole 
over  with  such  amendments,  alterations  and  corrections  as 
he  thought  advisable,  and  that  he  had  done  so.  He  then 
proposed  to  read  it  and  to  make  it  the  subject  of  our  con- 


ioo  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

sideration.  This  being  agreed  to,  he  read  it  and  we  pro 
ceeded  directly  to  consider  and  discuss  it,  paragraph  by 
paragraph,  until  the  whole  met  with  our  approbation.  Some 
amendments  were  made  during  the  interview,  but  none  of 
much  importance. 

"Although  this  business  had  not  been  hastily  dispatched, 
yet  aware  of  the  consequence  of  such  a  paper,  I  suggested 
the  giving  it  further  critical  examination ;  but  he  declined 
it,  saying  he  was  pressed  for  time,  and  was  anxious  to  re 
turn  the  draft  to  the  president  without  delay." 

It  is  from  this  source  that  we  gather  the  facts  of  Hamil 
ton's  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Washington  valedictory. 

This  great  document,  which  to-day  stands  as  a  Resolution 
of  National  Conduct,  was  the  conjoint  work  of  Washington 
and  Hamilton.  Just  how  much  or  to  what  extent  Mr.  Ham 
ilton  elaborated,  or  what  amendations  he  suggested,  will 
possibly  never  be  known.  His  own  writings  as  well  as 
those  of  Washington  fail  to  indicate  the  nature  of  the  in 
dividual  work.  Sufficient  knowledge  of  Hamilton's  con 
tribution  is  not  extant  to  warrant  a  statement  further  than 
to  say  ''Hamilton  assisted  in  preparing  the  'Farewell  Ad 
dress'  "  of  General  George  Washington. 

It  is  claimed  by  those  opposing  the  Hamiltonian  idea  of 
our  government  that  he  had  no  faith  in  the  common  people ; 
that  he  favored  the  idea  that  an  aristocracy  should  be  the 
ruling  element  in  our  nation.  This  does  Hamilton  an  in 
justice  an4  does  not  weigh  much  in  the  minds  of  any  who 
fully,  realize  the  meaning  and  purpose  of  his  state  papers. 
It  is  indeed  remarkable  that  the  essence  of  our  Declaration 
of  Independence  written  by  Jefferson  in  these  lines,  "all 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  101 

tnen  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Cre 
ator  with  certain  unalienable  rights/'  are  contained  in  an 
essay  written  by  Hamilton  several  years  prior  to  July,  '76. 
The  Hamilton  lines  are : 

"All  men  have  one  common  origin ;  they  participate  in 
one  common  nature,  and  consequently  have  one  common 
right." 

These  words  do  not  indicate  his  spirit  other  than  truly 
democratic,  and  they  were  written  when  a  mere  lad  of  sev 
enteen  years.  These  lines  are  taken  from  Hamilton's 
pamphlet  entitled:  "A  Full  Vindication  and  the  Farm 
er  Refuted."  The  Ihought  is  precisely  the  same  as  ex 
pressed  by  Jefferson,  and  though  the  wording  is  different 
there  exists  a  most  striking  similarity. 

In  the  same  essay  by  Hamilton,  written  and  published  in 
1774,  are  these  words:  "No  reason  can  be  advanced  why 
one  man  should  exercise  any  power  or  pre-eminence  over 
his  fellow-creatures  unless  they  have  voluntarily  vested  him 
with  it."  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
makes  a  like  statement:  "That,  to  secure  these  rights,  gov 
ernments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  pow 
ers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

The  strength  and  influence  of  the  brilliant  Hamilton,  at 
the  Federal  Convention,  is  generally  underestimated.  Not 
withstanding  the  fact  that  the  form  of  government  as  out 
lined  by  Hamilton  did  not  appeal  to  the  delegates,  it  was 
his  diplomatic  mind  which  realized  the  situation  and  he 
readily  accepted  the  tone  of  the  convention  and  became  a 
powerful  factor  in  the  draught  as  submitted  by  Madison — 
"The  father  of  the  Constitution."  In  other  words  Hamil- 


102  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

ton  was  able  to  make  victory  out  of  severest  defeat,  and  it 
was  this  quality  in  the  character  of  Hamilton  which  made 
him  an  able  champion  and  attorney  for  the  delegates  when 
the  product  of  the  convention  came  before  the  people  for 
their  judgment. 

Hamilton  showed  his  wisdom  of  political  affairs  in  many 
instances,  but  when  the  question  of  the  Executive  branch 
of  the  government  was  before  the  delegates  he  gave  evi 
dence  of  statecraft  seldom  demonstrated  at  any  similar 
gathering. 

He  was  of  foreign  birth  and  the  disposition  of  the  times 
read  "Let  none  but  Americans  on  guard."  He  was  fully 
conversant  with  the  spirit  of  opposition  to  foreign  interfer 
ence  or  foreign  dictation.  The  new  constitution — so  the 
people  washed — should  declare  in  clearest  possible  terms 
that  the  president  of  the  new  Republic  be  a  native  born 
citizen.  And  it  was  right  that  the  people's  voice  be  re 
spected  in  all  matters  since  it  was  to  be  a  government  of  the 
masses.  To  overcome  the  prejudice  of  the  foreign  born 
and  hold  the  good  will  of  all  concerned  required  tact  and 
shrewdness  of  the  highest  character. 

Tradition  brings  it  that  Hamilton  had  ambitions,  and 
that  he  thought  it  possible  to  become  the  chief  executive  of 
the  new  nation.  Nothing  appears  in  the  records  of  the  con 
vention  to  this  effect,  but  Hamilton  had  great  influence 
with  Madison  and  convinced  the  latter  that  the  service  of 
the  Revolutionary  soldiers,  regardless  of  their  nativity, 
should  be  shown  every  measure  of  respect  possible.  And 
the  idea  appealed  to  the  liberal-minded  Virginian.  Ham 
ilton  did  not  allow  so  delicate  a  matter  to  be  brought  before 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  103 

the  entire  convention ;  he  chose  to  get  every  victory  pos 
sible  in  committee  meetings  and  avoid  the  uncertainties  of 
a  huge  gathering  of  delegates. 

The  Madison  draft  favored  the  suggestion  and  hence 
there  is,  or  was  at  that  time,  a  possibility  for  a  person  of 
foreign  birth  to  become  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  clause  on  this  important  subject  reads : 

$th  Clause.  No  person  except  a  natural-born  citizen,  or 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President; 
neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office  who  shall 
not  have  attained  to  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  been 
fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the  United  States. 

This  may  be  largely  presumption  on  the  part  of  the 
writer,  but  there  are  a  number  of  things  which  assist  in  ar 
riving  at  such  a  conclusion.  The  last  lines  of  the  clause 
indicate  that  Hamilton  had  his  own  personality  in  view 
when  the  word  "fourteen"  was  inserted.  It  is  possible  that 
it  was  mere  coincidence,  but  it  nevertheless  remains  a  fact 
that  up  to  the  time  of  the  construction  of  the  Constitution 
Hamilton  had  been  in  this  country  just  fourteen  years.  He 
was  born  at  Nevis,  West  Indies,  on  January  nth,  1757,  and 
came  to  the  Colonies  in  1772.  The  time  of  the  convention 
was  about  fourteen  years  after  this  date. 

Again  the  word  "resident"  in  the  last  line  also  indicates 
that  care  was  exercised  in  terms  fitting  the  life  and  career 
of  Hamilton.  He  had  been  a  resident  fourteen  years  but 
had  not  been  a  citizen  such  a  period  of  time.  But  the  most 
weighty  argument  in  connection  with  this  subject  is  the 
fact  that  Alexander  Hamilton  did  expect  to  be  chief  execu- 


104  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON, 

tive,  as  careful  investigation  will  prove,  and  it  is  only  rea 
sonable  to  suppose  that  he  was  the  controlling  factor  in 
framing  the  clause  relating  to  the  presidency. 

An  expression  of  his  presidential  aspirations  can  be  found 
in  a  pamphlet  published  by  Hamilton  early  in  the  third  pres 
idential  campaign.  This  document  issued  in  1800,  intended 
as  a  political  argument,  was  aimed  against  John  Adams. 
This  pamphlet  clearly  portrays  his  personal  ambition.  The 
purpose  of  the  document  was  to  show  that  Mr.  Adams 
lacked  executive  ability  and  was  unfit  for  so  exalted  a 
station.  His  closing  sentences  teem  with  sentiments  of  the 
politician  rather  than  the  statesman  Hamilton ;  he  made  it 
known  that  he  was  a  candidate  and  suggested  that  the  Fed 
eral  party  support  him. 

This  document  contributes  to  the  supposition  that  Ham 
ilton  aspired  to  the  presidency. 

The  Federal  party  did  not  favor  such  a  proceeding  and 
the  election  resulted  in  declaring  Adams  the  executive. 
Hamilton  was  bitterly  opposed  to  Adams'  policy  and  he 
dictated  the  party  terms  notwithstanding  that  he  was  out 
side  the  cabinet.  Hamilton's  influence  with  the  Adams 
councilors  was  so  marked  that  they  looked  to  Hamilton  for 
advice  and  direction — this  was  a  most  remarkable  feature 
of  the  Adams  administration,  and  nowhere  in  our  national 
history  do  we  find  a  parallel. 

It  may  not  have  occurred  to  many  Americans  that,  not 
withstanding  that  Hamilton  was  of  foreign  birth,  he  acted 
in  the  capacity  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  American 
army.  This  is  a  position  belonging  particularly  to  the  ex 
ecutive  of  our  land,  and  though  Hamilton  never  filled  the 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  105 

oi  president  he  did  occupy  the  dignified  capacity  of 
commander-in-chief.  In  1797  a  treaty  with  England  known 
as  the  Jay  treaty  involved  the  United  States  in  a  difficulty 
with  France  which  threatened  to  break  forth  into  a  war 
with  America's  colonial  allies.  Adams  was  president  and 
he  anxiously  sought  a  settlement  and  peaceable  understand 
ing  with  France,  but  matters  became  more  complicated  as 
time  advanced  and  an  extra  session  of  Congress  passed  bills 
vrhich  became  laws  arranging  for  coast  defense  and  army 
and  navy  equipment.  The  union  of  States  expressed  the 
wish  that  Gen.  Washington,  though  in  retirement  as  a  pri 
vate  citizen,  take  command  of  the  forces  as  he  did  during 
the  struggle  for  liberty.  Washington  would  not  consent — 
he  felt  his  age  and  general  condition  of  health  would  not 
admit  of  so  severe  a  mental  and  physical  strain;  but  the 
people  and  the  officals  at  the  Federal  Capital  implored  him 
to  once  more  serve  the  country.  Finally  Washington  agreed, 
but  on  one  condition,  namely :  Alexander  Hamilton  must  be 
made  second  in  command  and  made  to  assume  the  actual 
task  of  the  chief.  The  matter  was  placed  before  Congress 
and  passed  and  with  the  approval  of  Adams ;  the  work  of 
recruiting  and  planning  fell  to  the  hands  of  Hamilton. 

The  war  was  on  and  every  department  of  our  defense 
was  rapidly  completing  preparations.  Hamilton  was  eager 
ly  surveying  the  situation,  and  suddently  the  news  was  dis 
patched  by  messengers  that  Washington  was  seriously  ill 
and  shortly  the  sad  tidings  came  that  the  great  General  was 
dead.  Hamilton  being  second  in  command  now  became  the 
commander-in-chief.  The  diplomacy  of  Napoleon  Bonapart 
presented  further  hostilities  and  military  tactics  gave  way 


io6  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

to  diplomatic  correspondence.  Nevertheless,  Alexander 
Hamilton  was  for  a  brief  period  commander-in-chief  of  the 
United  States  Army.  John  Adams  was  relieved,  as  Presi 
dent,  of  the  great  responsibilities  of  the  war,  yet  he  hoped 
to  continue  in  the  office  of  national  executive,  and  had  he 
been  able  to  have  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  Ham 
ilton  he  would  have  been  re-elected. 

Hamilton  had  gone  back  to  his  law  practice  in  New  York, 
but  he  wielded  a  most  emphatic  influence  on  the  Federal 
party  and  without  his  support  Adams  could  not  hope  to  win 
the  election. 

Alexander  Hamilton  opposed  the  re-election  of  Adams 
and  the  campaign  was  a  fierce  battle  of  words.  The 
result  was  that  Jefferson  and  Burr  received  an  equal  num 
ber  of  votes  and  according  to  the  constitution  it  devolved 
on  the  House  of  Representatives  to  decide  the  contest.  The 
House  favored  the  election  of  Burr  and  the  Federal  forces 
were  about  to  join  and  give  the  executive  office  to  Aaron 
Burr,  when  Hamilton  realizing  the  error  of  such  an  action 
decided  to  prefer  the  downfall  of  his  party  rather  than  see  it 
succeed  with  such  a  political  intreguer  as  Burr.  The  presi 
dency  depended  on  the  judgment  of  Hamilton.  What  to 
do  and  how  to  do  it  became  a  vital  question  in  the  great 
mind  of  Hamilton.  He  disliked  the  democracy  of  Jefferson 
and  his  antagonism  grew  when  he  reflected  to  the  days  of 
his  quarrels  with  Jefferson  while  both  were  in  Washington's 
cabinet.  Finally  Hamilton  decided  that  of  "two  evils  choose 
the  lesser,"  and  in  his  earnest  and  enthusiastic  manner  ad 
vocated  the  election  of  his  political  opponent  Jefferson. 
WThen  the  Federalists  learned  of  this  strange  attitude  they 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  107 

scarcely  knew  what  course  to  pursue,  but  Hamilton  pro 
claimed  a  principle  which  should  deserve  serious  considera 
tion  of  all  true  citizens,  namely:  "The  office  of  president 
must  be  filled  by  the  best  man"  even  though  his  party  affilia 
tions  are  less  desirable. 

Hamilton  elected  Jefferson.  The  Democrats,  ought  to  be 
truly  grateful  to  the  patron  saint  of  the  Republican  party  for 
this  patriotic  act;  and  the  entire  nation  regardless  of  party 
should  praise  this  policy  of  Hamilton  since  it  defeated  a 
lowr,  vicious  and  compromising  character — Aaron  Burr. 

This  political  move  on  the  part  of  Hamilton,  aroused  in 
the  heart  of  Burr  a  spirit  of  revenge  and  every  opportunity 
was  sought  to  entangle  Hamilton  into  some  questionable 
deed  or  provoke  him  to  speak  a  word  of  insult  or  slur — 
hence  admitting  of  Burr  sending  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel. 
The  time  came  for  Burr  to  take  advantage  of  the  situation, 
and  true  to  the  adage  "If  you  seek  for  trouble  you  will 
surely  find  it."  The  term  of  Vice-President  Burr  had  about 
ended,  and  he  realized  he  could  not  be  elected  president  or 
re-elected  vice-president  again,  consequently  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  governorship  of  New  York.  And  he  be 
lieved  if  Hamilton  remained  quiet  or  even  neutral  he  would 
easily  carry  the  State.  But  Hamilton,  who  was  a  fearless 
and  upright  patriot,  would  not  remain  inactive  nor  would  he 
sanction  the  idea  of  making  peace  with  culprits  by  surren 
dering  his  station  as  a  clean  and  honest  party  leader.  In 
the  memorable  campaign  Hamilton  allowed  it  to  be  known 
that  Burr  must  be  defeated  and  his  friends  and  admirers 
accepted  the  command — the  result  was  the  political  death  of 
Aaron  Burr.  During  the  campaign  Hamilton  in  an  un- 


io8  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

guarded  moment  said  in  the  company  of  a  few  people  that 
he  entertained  a  "despicable"  opinion  of  that  man  Bnrr. 
This  conversation  was  repeated  to  Burr,  who  seized  it  as 
possible  grounds  for  a  duel,  and  immediately  entered  into 
correspondence  with  Hamilton  and  impressed  the  latter  with 
the  necessity  of  a  "decision  of  honor." 

The  bright,  intelligent  and  far-seeing  Hamilton,  who  fore 
told  the  destiny  of  a  nation  and  whose  knowledge  of  its  con 
stitutional  law  was  the  most  profound  of  that  day — this 
same  brilliant  and  remarkable  mind  could  not  fathom  the 
design  of  the  intriguer  and  cold-hearted  Burr.  Or  if  he  did 
understand  the  seriousness  of  an  "affair  of  honor,"  his 
bravery,  and  heroic  courage  so  often  displayed  while  a  sol 
dier  in  the  Revolution,  must  have  forsaken  him.  Hamilton 
knew  it  was  unchristian,  ungentlemanly  and  thoroughly  out 
of  accord  with  his  sense  of  moral  right,  to  fight  a  duel,  but 
he  did  not  possess  the  courage  to  proclaim  his  objection  to 
a  system  of  "barbaric  court"  and  in  an  unwilling  and  hesi- 
fating  mood  he  allowed  himself  to  subject  himself  to  this 
humiliation. 

This  same  cowardice — mistaken  for  a  form  of  bravery- 
leads  hundreds  across  the  sea  to  yield  up  a  noble  and  praise 
worthy  career  to  gratify  the  lowest  impulse  within  the  hu 
man  heart. 

Hamilton  was  not  ignorant  of  the  terribleness  of  the 
undertaking,  since  he  had  suffered  its  effects  in  the  loss 
of  his  eldest  son  who  a  few  years  before  fell  dead  on  the 
selfsame  spot  where  he  and  his  enemy  Burr  were  to  meet. 
This  sadness  was  fresh  in  his  mind — yet  he  lacked  the  great 
moral  courage  of  refraining  from  a  practice  brought  down 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  109 

from  barbaric  times.  The  Hamilton  family  had  sustained 
the  loss  of  one  of  its  members  in  a  duel  and  the  sadness 
which  took  possession  of  the  father  had  not  passed  away. 

Young  Philip  Hamilton,  a  youth  of  eighteen,  fought  a 
duel  at  Weehawken,  New  Jersey,  on  January  loth,  1802. 
In  defense  of  his  father's  honor  he  challenged  G.  J.  Eaker, 
who,  during  an  oration  on  July  4th,  took  occasion  to  at 
tack  Alexander  Hamilton  and  aimed  ferocious  invectives, 
to  injure  the  reputation  of  the  famous  American.  Young 
Philip,  who  had  just  graduated  from  Columbia  University, 
attended  the  Independence  celebration  and  heard  the  slurr 
ing  remarks  against  his  father.  A  few  months  afterward 
young  Hamilton  met  the  speaker  at  a  theatre  and  the  na 
ture  of  the  conversation  drifted  to  a  point  where  Philip  felt 
impelled  to  take  exception  and  arrangements  were  shortly 
completed  to  fight  a  duel.  The  duelists  met  and  though 
four  shots  were  exchanged  neither  person  had  been  injured. 
Young  Hamilton  was  so  dissatisfied  at  this  termination  of 
the  case  that  he  arranged  to  reopen  the  affair  by  sending  a 
second  challenge  to  Mr.  Eaker,  who  immediately  accepted 
and  the  second  duel  resulted.  The  combatants  fought  with 
pistols  at  twelve  paces  distance.  Philip  Hamilton  was  mor 
tally  wounded  at  the  first  shot,  and  after  suffering  agonies 
for  some  ten  hours,  died  surrounded  by  his  admiring 
friends. 

This  sad  lesson  should  have  inspired  Alexander  Hamil 
ton  to  refuse  a  duel  with  Burr. — But  the  times  decreed  that 
matters  of  personal  difference  or  affairs  of  honor  must  be 
settled  on  the  field  of  duel. 


no  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

Hamilton  recorded  his  views  on  the  practice  of  duelling 
and  condemned  it  in  strongest  terms ;  but  regarding  the  ac 
ceptance  of  a  challenge  he  wrote :  "The  ability  to  be  in  fu 
ture  useful,  whether  in  resisting  mischief  or  affecting  good 
in  those  crises  of  our  public  affairs  which  seem  likely  to 
happen,  would  probably  be  inseparable  from  a  conformity 
with  prejudice  in  this  particular." 

The  duel  was  arranged  and  the  two  bitter  political  op 
ponents  met.  The  sturdy  figure  of  Burr  registered  firmly 
on  the  soil,  and  the  cool  and  deliberate  Burr  eagerly  await 
ing  the  fulfillment  of  a  longing  desire ;  he  had  been  engaged 
for  months  in  secret  pistol  practice  and  every  detail  of  the 
duel  had  been  carefully  planned  by  his  designing  mind. 

Opposite  to  Burr  stood  the  small,  thin  and  even  puny 
figure  of  Hamilton,  who  stood  erect  as  a  soldier,  displaying 
a  dignified  and  courtly  attitude.  His  active  mind  controlled 
his  physical  being  which  responded  in  quivers  of  nervous 
ness;  his  diligent  study  and  extreme  hardships  as  the  first 
secretary  of  the  treasury  had  robbed  his  cheeks  of  their 
bloom  and  his  delicate  frame  had  lost  much  of  its  natural 
agility. 

The  time  was  called — the  tragedy  was  on — and  in  a  scene 
of  few  moments  was  enacted  the  most  tragic  duel  of  the 
century.  The  end  had  come  and  the  civilized  world  mourn 
ed  the  loss  of  one  who  stood  staunch  in  the  halls  of  justice 
and  fame. 

The  grief  of  Mrs.  Hamilton  was  intense,  and  her  love 
for  the  young  husband  was  of  that  depth  that  she  wore  the 
"crape  of  sorrow"  for  one-half  century,  when  death  brought 
solace  to  her  stricken  heart. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  m 

The  entire  civilized  world  felt  the  shock  of  the  tragic 
death  of  Hamilton  and  this  sacrifice  practically  destroyed 
the  nefarious  practice  of  the  duel ;  henceforth  the  "code  of 
honor"  reverted  into  a  "code  of  hishonor"  and  only  moral 
cowards  resorted  to  the  sword  and  pistol. 

If  the  death  of  Hamilton  meant  the  end  of  duelling,  then 
his  was  indeed  a  truly  heroic  death — liberating  the  world 
from  the  claims  of  heathendom. 

A  man  need  not  be  the  native  of  the  soil  to  be  a  patriot ; 
far  from  this  and  often,  yes  too  often,  do  we  find  that  those 
born  beneath  our  banner  are  less  deserving  of  citizenship 
than  those  who  from  choice  have  landed  on  our  shores. 
Those  emigrants  who  have  torn  themselves  loose  from 
tyranny  and  in  the  dark  of  night  left  the  land  of  oppression, 
sailed  over  the  angry  bosom  of  the  sea  to  land  on  these 
shores  must  ever  be  deserving  of  our  respect.  They  who 
gladly  subscribe  themselves  to  our  laws  and  who  unhesitat 
ingly  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  our  starry  ensign ;  who 
freely  serve  the  cause  of  liberty  and  cheerfully  abide  by  our 
laws  and  remain  God-fearing  citizens,  such  are  healthy  addi 
tions  to  our  population  and  are  worthy  of  our  admiration. 

Although  nativity  is  an  important  and  desirable  factor  in 
the  proper  spirit  of  patriotism  it  is  not  a  necessary  accom 
paniment.  This  is  well  exemplified  in  the  lives  of  Morris 
and  Hamilton.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  an  adopted 
citizen,  all  things  being  favorable,  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  as 
patriotic  as  the  native  born ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
latter  too  unfrequently  realizes  the  great  blessings  which 
God  has  bequeathed  him.  The  pages  of  our  nationality  too 


112  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

fully  illustrate  the  truth  of  this  assertion  to  need  further 
detail. 

There  are  those  who  love  to  designate  patriotism  as  a 
selfish  propensity  and  who  are  ever  prepared  to  bring  dis 
credit  upon  all  movements  calculated  to  foster  patriotism 
and  loyalty. 

Patriotism,  as  all  who  are  familiar  with  its  definition 
know,  means  quite  the  contrary  from  selfishness;  it  stands 
for  humanitariansm  and  sacrifice.  The  lives  of  Nathan  Hale, 
Robert  Morris,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Alexander  Hamilton  clearly  exemplify  the  high  virtues  of 
its  impulse. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  113 

ANECDOTES  AND  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  HAMILTON. 

DISAGREEMENT  BETWEEN  HAMILTON  AND  WASHINGTON. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  marriage  of  Hamilton,  on  the 
i6th  of  February,  1781,  a  somewhat  singular  and  disa 
greeable  incident  occurred  between  himself  and  the  Com 
mander-in-chief,  which  exerted  some  influence  on  his  fu 
ture  career. 

He  had  now  been  nearly  four  years  in  the  family  of 
Washington,  as  his  aid-de-camp.  He  had  secured,  by 
his  superior  abilities  and  integrity,  the  first  place  in  his 
confidence.  But  the  position  had  alwrays  been  one  in 
some  respects  disagreeable  to  Hamilton,  inasmuch  as  it 
placed  him  in  a  state  of  dependence  on  the  will  and  sub 
ject  to  the  caprices  of  another. 

On  the  day  just  mentioned  a  breach  occurred  between 
them  which  put  an  end  to  this  relation,  though  between 
men  of  suqh  intelligence  and  such  integrity  it  could  not 
diminish  their  mutual  confidence  and  respect.  The  inci 
dents  of  the  dispute  were  these;  and  trivial  enough  they 
were  to  have  led  to  such  important  consequences. 

Washington  and  Hamilton  passed  each  other  on 
the  stairs  at  the  headquarters  of  the  army,  then  loca 
ted  at  Morristown,  in  New  Jersey.  The  general  said  he 
wished  to  speak  to  Hamilton.  The  latter  answered  that 
he  would  wait  on  him  immediately. 

Hamilton  went  below  and  delivered  a  letter  of  impor 
tance  to  Mr.  Tilghman,  which  was  to  be  sent  immediate 
ly  to  the  Commissary,  as  it  contained  an  order  of  the 
most  pressing  nature.  As  Hamilton  reascended  the 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


stairs  he  was  met  by  General  Lafayette.     The  latter  de 
tained  him  a  few  moments  in  conversation. 

When  Hamilton  reached  the  head  of  the  stairs  he  met 
General  Washington,  who  had  left  his  own  apartment 
and   come    for 
ward   to   accost 
him. 

He  exclaimed 
in  a  11  angry 
tone: 

"Col.  Hamil 
ton,  you  have 
kept  me  wait 
ing  for  you 
these  ten  min 
utes.  I  must 
tell  you,  sir,  you 
treat  me  with 
disrespect." 

Hamilton  re 
plied: 

"lam  not  con 
scious  of  it,  sir; 
but  since  you 
have  thought  it 
necessary  to  tell  me  so,  we  part."  "Very  well,  sir,"  res 
ponded  Washington,  "if  it  be  your  choice." 

Such  was  the  cause  of  this  unfortunate  difficulty. 

The  truth  was  that  Washington,  harassed  by  ten  thous 
and  cares,   had  in  a  moment  of  thoughtlessness  given 


Hamilton  in  the  Field. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  115 

way  to  a  little  petulance  which  was  quite  excusable;  and 
that  Hamilton,  wearied  with  the  disagreeable  dependence 
which  always  attends  the  position  and  functions  of  an 
aid-de-camp,  determined  to  embrace  the  opportunity  thus 
afforded  to  put  an  end  to  a  relation  which  he  had  long 
endured  only  from  patriotic  and  disinterested  motives, 
and  from  a  powerful  attachment  to  the  person  and  career 
of  Washington. — Schmucker. 

HAMILTON  THE  PEN  OF  THE  ARMY. 

To  Hamilton  alone  Washington  confided  the  most  dif 
ficult  and  elaborate  communications  which  emanated 
from  headquarters,  both  to  Congress  and  to  private  citi 
zens,  which  he  did  not  himself  compose.  "The  pen  of 
our  army,"  says  Troup,  "was  held  by  Hamilton;  and 
for  dignity  of  manner,  pith  of  matter,  and  elegance  of 
style,  General  Washington'^  letters  are  unrivaled  in  mil 
itary  annals." 

HAMILTON  AND  THE  FEDERALIST. 

"The  Federalist"  is  justly  regarded  as  the  great  Ameri 
can  classic  in  political  science.  No  production  which 
has  emanated  from  any  American  statesman  can  compete 
with  it  in  profundity,  ability  and  power. 

The  great  constitutional  arguments  of  Mr.  Webster, 
and  the  elaborate  treatise  of  Mr.  Calhoun  on  the  Consti 
tution,  are  its  acknowledged  inferiors.  It  holds  the  same 
high  place  in  American  literature  which  the  letters  of 
Junius,  and  the  Reflections  of  Burke  on  the  French  Rev 
olution,  occupy  in  British  literature;  while  it  possesses 
one  great  advantage  over  these  celebrated  works,  in  the 


u6  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

fact  that  their  discussions  are  based  upon  transient  and 
temporary  events,  which,  however  important  and  absorb 
ing  they  may  have  been  at  the  period  of  their  occurrence, 
lost  their  supreme  and  overwhelming  interest  with  the 
steady  progress  of  time. 

"The  Federalist"  is  founded  upon  a  theme  equally  per 
manent  and  glorious — one  which  will  continue  to  inter 
est  and  benefit  our  race  as  long  as  true  liberty  exists  up 
on  the  earth:  and  not  only  as  long  as  the  American  con 
federacy  shall  continue  to  flourish,  but  even  while  it  re 
tains  a  place  in  the  memory  of  mankind. 

It  is  a  complete  commentary  upon  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  which  is  fully  worthy  of  its  subject. 
It  is  a  magnificent  superstructure  erected  in  perfect  har 
mony  with  the  symmetrical  and  beautiful  proportions  of 
the  foundation  upon  which  it  is  reared,  and  destined  to 
be  coequal  with  it  in  duration  and  celebrity. 

The  first  publication  of  "The  Federalist"  began  in  the 
daily  journals  in  November,  1787,  and  it  continued  till 
June,  1788.  It  attracted  universal  attention  at  the  time; 
and  to  the  influence  which  it  wielded,  the  speedy  and 
unanimous  adoption  of  the  federal  Constitution  by  all 
the  States,  is  in  a  great  measure  to  be  attributed. 

Its  general  scope  and  purpose  were  to  afford  the  Amer 
ican  people,  at  the  period  when  they  were  discussing  the 
provisions  and  merits  of  that  Constitution  previous  to  its 
final  adoption — a  thorough  exposition  of  the  principles 
which  should  characterize  a  federal  representative  gov 
ernment. 

It  combines  in  harmonious  proportions  an  ardent  M* 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  117 

techment  to  the  principles  of  national  liberty,  with  a  clear 
and  impartial  statement  of  the  dangers  which  result  from 
an  excessive  and  undue  jealousy  of  the  power  intrusted 
to  the  central  government,  in  those  unsound  and  badly 
constructed  republics  which,  in  former  ages,  have  arisen, 
flourished,  foundered  and  fallen;  and  it  draws  lessons  of 
wisdom  from  their  misfortunes. 

Or,  in  the  words  of  Hamilton  himself:  "I  propose  to 
discuss  the  following  interesting  particulars:  the  utility 
of  the  Union  to  your  political  prosperity;  the  insufficiency 
of  the  present  confederation  to  preserve  that  Union:  the 
necessity  of  a  government  at  least  equally  energetic  with 
the  one  proposed,  to  the  attainment  of  this  object:  the 
conformity  of  the  proposed  Constitution  to  the  true  prin 
ciples  of  republican  government:  its  analogy  to  your  own 
State  constitution:  and  lastly,  the  additional  security 
which  its  adoption  will  afford  to  the  preservation  of  that 
species  of  government,  to  liberty  and  to  prosperity." — 
Schmucker. 

APPRECIATION  ABROAD  OF  THE  FEDERALIST. 

The  wise  and  learned  of  Europe  have  also  appreciated 
the  superior  merit  of  this  production.  Shortly  after  its 
first  appearance,  "The  Federalist"  was  translated  into 
French  by  M.  Buisson,  and  published  in  Paris. 

In  that  country  it  has  taken  its  place  by  the  side  of 
Montesquieu's  "Spirit  of  L,aws." 

It  has  been  republished  in  Switzerland,  and  has  been 
there  honored  as  the  worthy  associate  of  the  great  work 
of  Burlamaqui  on  the  same  subject. 


i  18  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

It  is  known  and  appreciated  in  every  country  of  Eu 
rope,  just  in  proportion  as  the  liberty  of  the  press  and  lib 
erty  of  speech  are  possessed  and  enjoyed.  —  Schmucker. 

HAMILTON  AND  ANDRE. 

In  reference  to  the  fall  of  the  British  officer,  Andre, 
who  was  involved  in  the  punishment  which  Arnold  de 
served,  Hamilton,  moved  by  a  generous  sympathy  for 
the  fate  of  one  so  young,  so  chivalrous,  and  so  promising, 
exerted  his  utmost  efforts  to  discover  some  legal  and  hon 
orable  expedient  to  save  him. 

When  all  proved  unavailing,  he  felt  deeply  for  the  un 
fortunate  officer,  and  published  a  narrative  of  the  facts 
in  the  case,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Laurens,  which  re 
flects  equal  credit,  both  upon  his  intellect  and  his  heart. 
It  was  a  model  of  elegance,  clearness,  simplicity  and 
force  in  the  art  of  narration. 

In  a  letter  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Schuyler,  the  daughter 
of  the  distinguished  general  of  that  name,  Hamilton  des 
cribes  the  execution  of  Andre  with  graphic  power;  and 
thus  speaks  of  that  melancholy  occurrence: 

"Poor  Andre  suffers  to  day;  everything  that  is 
amiable  in  virtue,  in  fortitude,  in  delicate  sentiment 
and  accomplished  manners,  pleads  for  him;  but  hard 
hearted  policy  calls  for  a  sacrifice.  He  must  die. 
I  send  you  my  account  of  Arnold's  affair,  and  to  justi 
fy  myself  to  your  sentiment,  I  must  inform  you  that  I 
urged  a  compliance  with  Andre's  request  to  be  shot,  and 
I  do  not  think  it  would  have  had  an  ill  effect;  but  some 
people  are  only  sensible  to  motives  of  policy,  and  some- 


izo  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

times,  from  a  narrow  disposition,  mistake  it." — Schmuck- 
er. 

HAMILTON  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

In  the  end,  the  predictions  of  this  great  man  and  pro 
found  statesman  were  fully  realized.  Dr.  Sch mucker 
truthfully  says,  "The  Constitution,  which  Hamiltcn 
chiefly  elaborated,  was  finally  adopted;  and  has  since  be 
come  the  subject  of  the  constant  eulogy  of  myriads  of  el 
oquent  tongues,  and  has  received  the  admiration  of  the 
whole  civilized  world. 

"The  merit  of  Hamilton  in  connection  with  it  can  now 
scarcely  be  estimated;  but  when  a  thousand  years  of  un- 
equaled  national  prosperity  and  glory  shall  have  rolled 
over  this  confederacy,  which  his  great  plastic  hand  mould 
ed  into  so  compact,  so  beautiful,  and  so  consistent  a 
mass;  when  five  hundred  millions  of  beings  shall  inhabit 
this  continent,  turning  by  their  thrifty  industry  all  her 
boundless  plains  and  valleys  into  blooming  and  fruitful 
gardens;  and  when,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  shore 
an  empire  of  freemen  shall  here  live  and  reign  under  the 
benign  control  of  that  Constitution,  being  ten  times 
greater  than  any  previous  empire  that  ever  existed  on  the 
earth;  then,  indeed,  may  the  vast  services  and  the  ven 
erable  name  of  Alexander  Hamilton  be  cherished  with 
the  profound  reverence  and  the  high  appreciation  which 
they  abundantly  deserve." 

CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  following  observation  states  clearly  and  beautiful 
ly  one  of  the  chief  attributes  or  characteristics  of  this 
celebrated  work: 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  121 

•'Like  one  of  those  wondrous  rocking  stones  reared  by 
Ihe  Druids,  which  the  finger  of  a  child  may  vibrate  to 
the  centre,  yet  the  might  of  an  army  could  not  move  it 
from  its  place,  our  Constitution  is  so  nicely  poised  and 
balanced,  that  it  seems  to  sway  with  every  breath  of 
opinion,  yet  so  firmly  rooted  in  the  heart  and  affections 
of  the  people,  that  the  wildest  storms  of  treason  and 
fanaticism  break  over  it  in  vain." — R.  C.  Winthrop. 

HAMILTON'S  DISTRUST  OF  FOREIGN  INFLUENCE. 

uUpon  my  first  going  into  Congress  I  discovered  symp 
toms  of  a  party  too  well  disposed  to  subject  the  interests 
of  the  United  States  to  the  management  of  France. 
Though  I  felt  in  common  with  those  who  had  participat 
ed  in  the  Revolution,  a  lively  sentiment  of  good-will 
toward  a  power  whose  cooperation,  however  it  was  and 
ought  to  have  been  dictated  by  its  own  interest,  had  been 
extremely  useful  to  us,  and  had  been  afforded  in  a  liber 
al  and  handsome  manner. 

"Yet,  tenacious  of  the  real  independence  of  our  country, 
and  dreading  the  preponderance  of  foreign  influence  as 
the  natural  disease  of  popular  government,  I  was  struck 
with  disgust  at  the  appearance,  in  the  very  cradle  of  our 
republic,  of  a  party  actuated  by  an  undue  complaisance 
to  a  foreign  power,  and  I  resolved  at  once  to  resist  this 
bias  in  our  affairs;  a  resolution  which  has  been  the  chief 
cause  of  the  persecution  I  have  endured  in  the  subse 
quent  stages  of  my  political  life." 

HAMILTON  AND  THE  UNION. 

"If  the  circumstances  of  our  country  are  such,"  says 


122  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

Hamilton,  "as  to  demand  a  compound,  instead  of  a  sim 
ple — a  confederate,  instead  of  a  sole  government,  the  es 
sential  point  which  will  remain  to  be  adjusted,  will  be  to 
discriminate  the  objects,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done,  which 
will  appertain  to  the  different  provinces  or  departments 
of  power:  allowing  to  each  the  most  ample  authority  for 
fulfilling  those  which  may  be  committed  to  its  charge. 

"Shall  the  Union  be  constituted  the  guardian  of  the 
common  safety?  Are  fleets,  and  armies,  and  revenues, 
necessary  to  this  purpose?  The  government  of  the  Union 
must  be  empowered  to  pass  all  laws,  and  to  make  all  reg 
ulations  which  have  relation  to  them. 

"The  same  must  be  the  case  in  respect  to  commerce, 
and  to  every  other  matter  to  which  its  jurisdiction  is  per 
mitted  to  extend. 

"Is  the  administration  of  justice  between  the  citizens  of 
the  same  State  the  proper  department  of  the  local  gov 
ernments?  These  must  possess  all  the  authorities  which 
are  connected  with  this  object,  and  with  every  other  that 
may  be  allotted  to  their  particular  cognizance  and  direct 
ion. 

"Not  to  confer  in  each  case  a  degree  of  power  commen 
surate  to  the  end,  would  be  to  violate  the  most  obvious 
rules  of  prudence  and  propriety,  and  improvidently  to 
trust  the  great  interests  of  the  nation  to  hands  which  are 
disabled  from  managing  them  with  vigor  and  success." 

HAMILTON  ON  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN  REPUBLICS. 

"It  is  impossible  to  read  the  history  of  the  petty  repub 
lics  of  Greece  and  Italy,  without  feeling  sensations  of 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


iz3 


horror  and  disgust  at  the  distractions  with  which  they 
were  continually  agitated;  and  at  the  rapid  succession  of 
revolutions  by  which  they  were  kept  perpetually  vibrat 
ing  between  the 
extremes  of  tyr 
anny  and  an 
archy. 

"If  they  ex 
hibit  occasional 
calms,  these  on 
ly  serve  as 
short-lived  con 
trasts  to  the  fu 
rious  storms 
that  are  to  suc 
ceed. 

"If  now  and 
then  intervals 
of  felicity  open 
themselves  to 
view,  we  behold 
them  with  a 
mixture  of  re 
gret  arising 
from  the  reflect 
ion,  that  the 

pleasing  scenes  before  us  are  soon  to  be  overwhelmed  by 
the  tempestuous  waves  of  sedition  and  party  rage. 

"If  momentary  rays  of  glory  break  forth  from  the  gloom 
while  they  dazzle  us  with  a  transient  and  fleeting  brill- 


statue  of  Hamilton  in  front  of  the  Hamilton  Club, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


124  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

iancy,  they  at  the  same  time  admonish  us  to  lament,  that 
the  vices  of  government  should  pervert  the  direction, 
and  tarnish  the  lustre  of  those  bright  talents  and  exalted 
endowments  for  which  the  favored  soils  that  produced 
them  have  been  so  justly  celebrated. 

"But  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  the  portraits  they  have 
sketched  of  republican  government,  were  too  just  copies 
of  the  originals  from  which  they  were  taken.  If  it  had 
been  found  impracticable  to  have  devised  models  of  a 
more  perfect  structure,  the  enlightened  friends  of  liberty 
would  have  been  obliged  to  abandon  the  cause  of  that 
species  of  government  as  indefensible. 

"The  science  of  politics,  however,  like  most  other  sci 
ences,  has  received  great  improvement.  The  efficacy  of 
various  principles  is  now  well  understood,  which  were 
either  not  known  at  all,  or  imperfectly  known  to  the  an 
cients. 

"The  regular  distribution  of  power  into  distinct  de 
partments;  the  introduction  of  legislative  balances  and 
checks;  the  institution  of  courts  composed  of  judges, 
holding  their  offices  during  good  behavior;  the  represen 
tation  of  the  people  in  the  legislature,  by  deputies  of  their 
own  election;  these  are  either  wholly  new  discoveries,  or 
have  made  their  principal  progress  toward  perfection  w 
modern  times." 

HAMILTON  ON  NATIONAL  EMERGENCIES. 

"Our  own  experience  has  corroborated  the  lessons 
taught  by  the  examples  of  other  nations;  that  emergen 
cies  of  this  sort  will  sometimes  exist  in  all  societies,  how- 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  125 

ever  constituted;  that  seditions  and  insurrections  are, 
unhappily,  maladies  as  inseparable  from  the  body  poli 
tic,  as  tumors  and  eruptions  from  the  natural  body;  that 
the  idea  of  governing  at  all  times  by  the  simple  force  of 
law,  (which  we  have  been  told  is  the  only  admissible 
principle  of  republican  government)  has  no  place  but  in 
the  revery  of  those  political  doctors,  whose  sagacity  dis 
dains  the  admonitions  of  experimental  instruction. 

"Should  such  emergencies  at  any  time  happen  under 
the  national  government,  there  could  be  no  remedy  but 
force.  The  means  to  be  employed  must  be  proportioned 
to  the  extent  of  the  mischief.  If  it  should  be  a  slight 
commotion  in  a  small  part  of  a  State,  the  militia  of  the 
residue  would  be  adequate  to  its  suppression:  and  the 
natural  presumption  is,  that  they  would  be  ready  to  do 
their  duty. 

"An  insurrection,  whatever  may  be  its  immediate 
cause,  eventually  endangers  all  government. 

"Regard  for  the  public  peace,if  not  for  the  rights  of  the 
Union,  would  engage  the  citizens,  to  whom  the  contagion 
had  not  communicated  itself,  to  oppose  the  insurgents; 
and  if  the  general  government  should  be  found  in  prac 
tice  conducive  to  the  prosperity  and  felicity  of  the  people, 
it  were  irrational  to  believe  that  they  would  be  disin 
clined  to  its  support. " 

HAMILTON  ON  THE  RE-ELECTION  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

"The  administration  of  government,  in  its  largest  sense, 
comprehends  all  the  operations  of  the  body  politic,  wheth 
er  legislative,  executive,  or  judiciary;  but  in  its  most  us 


i  26'  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

ual,  and  perhaps  in  its  most  precise  signification,  it  is 
limited  to  executive  details,  and  falls  peculiarly  within 
the  province  of  the  executive  department. 

"The  actual  conduct  of  foreign  negotiations,  the  pre 
paratory  plans  of  finance,  the  application  and  disburse 
ment  of  the  public  moneys  in  conformity  to  the  general 
appropriations  of  the  legislature,  the  arrangement  of  the 
army  and  navy,  the  direction  of  the  operations  of  war; 
these,  and  other  matters  of  the  like  nature,  constitute 
what  seems  to  be  most  properly  understood  by  the  ad 
ministration  of  government. 

"The  persons,  therefore,  to  whose  immediate  manage 
ment  these  different  matters  are  committed,  ought  to  be 
considered  as  the  assistants  or  deputies  of  the  chief  mag 
istrate;  and  on  this  account,  they  ought  to  derive  their 
offices  from  his  appointment,  at  least  from  his  nomina 
tion,  and  to  be  subject  to  his  superintendence. 

"This  view  of  the  thing  will  at  once  suggest  to  us  the 
intimate  connection  between  the  duration  of  the  execu 
tive  magistrate  in  office,  and  the  stability  of  the  system 
of  administration. 

"To  undo  what  has  been  done  by  a  predecessor  is  very 
often  considered  by  a  successor  as  the  best  proof  he  can 
give  of  his  own  capacity  and  desert;  and  in  addition  to 
this  propensity,  where  the  alteration  has  been  the  result 
of  public  choice,  the  person  substituted  is  warranted  in 
supposing  that  the  dismission  of  his  predecessor  has  pro 
ceeded  from  a  dislike  to  his  measures,  and  that  the  less 
he  resembles  him  the  more  he  will  recommend  himself 
to  the  favor  of  his  constituents. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  127 

"These  considerations,  and  the  influence  of  personal 
confidences  and  attachments,  would  be  likely  to  induce 
every  new  President  to  promote  a  change  of  men  to  fill 
the  subordinate  stations;  and  these  causes  together  could 
not  fail  to  occasion  a  disgraceful  and  ruinous  mutability 
in  the  administration  of  the  government." 

HAMILTON  ON  TERM  OF  OFFICE. 
(From  a  Letter  to  Timothy  Pickering,  Sept.  16,  1803.) 

"I  may  truly  say  that  I  never  proposed  either  a  Presi 
dent  or  Senate  for  life;  and  that  I  neither  recommended 
nor  meditated  the  annihilation  of  the  State  governments. 

"And  I  may  add  that,  in  a  course  of  the  discussions  in 
the  Convention,  neither  the  propositions  thrown  out  for 
debate,  nor  even  those  who  voted  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
deliberation,  were  considered  as  evidence  of  a  definitive 
opinion  in  the  proposer  or  voter. 

"It  appeared  to  be  in  some  sort  understood  that,  with  a 
view  to  free  investigation,  experimental  propositions 
might  be  made,  which  were  to  be  received  merely  as 
suggestions  for  consideration.  Accordingly,  it  is  a  fact 
that  my  final  opinion  was  against  an  executive  during 
good  behavior,  on  account  of  the  increased  danger  to  the 
public  tranquility  incident  to  the  election  of  a  magistrate 
of  his  degree  of  permanency. 

"In  a  plan  of  a  Constitution  which  I  drew  up  while 
the  Convention  was  sitting,  and  which  I  communicated 
to  Mr.  Madison  about  the  close  of  it,  perhaps  a  day  or 
two  after,  the  office  or  President  has  no  longer  duration 
than  for  three  years. 


128 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


"This  plan  was  predicated  upon  these  bases:  i.  That 
the  political  principles  of  the  people  of  this  country, 
would  endure  nothing  but  a  republican  government.  2. 
That  in  the  actual  situation  of  the  country  it  was  itself 
right  and  proper  that  the  re 
publican  theory  should  have 
a  full  and  fair  trial.  3.  That 
to  such  a  trial  it  was  essential 
that  the  government  should  be 
so  constructed  as  to  give  it  all 
the  energy  and  the  stability 
reconcilable  with  the  principles 
of  that  theory.  These  were 
the  genuine  sentiments  of  my 
hearjt,  and  upon  them  I  then 
acted. 

"I  sincerely  hope  that  it  may  not  hereafter  be  discov 
ered  that,  through  want  of  sufficient  attention  to  the  last 
idea,  the  experiment  of  republican  government,  even  in 
this  country,  has  not  been  as  complete,  as  satisfactory , 
and  as  decisive  as  could  be  wished." 

HAMILTON'S  DEFENSE  OF  WASHINGTON. 

Hamilton  was  called  upon  to  vindicate  the  character 
and  integrity  of  his  friend,  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
nation,  from  the  foul  charges  which  an  infamous  party- 
hatred  preferred  against  him. 

Both  the  military  and  political  character  of  Washing 
ton  were  furiously  assailed. 

The  republican  or  radical  party  asserted   that  he  was 


Lord  Cornwallis,  against 

whose  forces  Hamilton  led  tl 

gallant  assault  at  Yorktown. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  129 

totally  destitute  of  merit,  either  as  a  soldier  or  as  a 
statesman.  Even  his  personal  qualities  as  a  man  were 
ridiculed  and  censured. 

It  was  asserted  that  he  had  violated  the  Constitution 
in  the  recent  treaty  which  had  been  made  with  England 
through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Jay;  and  an  impeachment 
even  was  threatened  against  himy  whom  all  wise  and 
good  men  now  designate  as  the  patriot  who  possessed 
the  severest  virtue  known  in  modern  times;  who  happi 
ly  mingled  in  one,  the  characters  of  Aristides,  Cincin- 
natus  and  Scipio. 

It  was  also  asserted  that  he  had  drawn  from  the  Treas 
ury  for  his  private  use,  more  than  the  amount  of  salary 
allowed  him  by  law.  To  support  this  last  infamous  as 
sumption,  extracts  from  the  accounts  of  the  Treasury 
Office  were  laid  before  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Hamilton  came  forward  boldly  to  the  defense  of  his 
venerable  friend.  He  denied  publicly  and  officially  in 
the  journals  that  the  appropriations  made  by  the  gov 
ernment  had  ever  been  exceeded. 

The  infamous  charge  was  again  repeated  and  insisted 
on;  and  then  was  seen  that  most  despicable  spectacle 
which  a  degraded  humanity  ever  exhibits,  when  it  eag 
erly  seizes  the  opportunity  to  exult  in  the  degradation  of 
exalted  personages,  and  of  immortal  names  which  they 
had  long  been  compelled  to  respect  and  esteem. 

These  unfortunate  circumstances  induced  Hamilton  to 
prepare  and  publish  a  more  explicit  and  full  explanation. 

He  proved  that  Washington  had  himself  never  re 
ceived  in  person  any  portion  of  his  salary;  but  that  the 


1 3o  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

money  had  all  been  received  and  disbursed  by  the  per 
son  who  superintended  the  expenses  of  the  household. 

He  showed  that  it  was  the  practice  of  the  Treasury, 
when  a  certain  sum  had  been  appropriated  for  the  cur 
rent  year,  to  pay  it  to  that  gentleman  when  called 
upon. 

The  expenses  of  some  periods  of  the  year  sometimes 
exceeded  the  allowance,  and  at  others  they  fell  short  of 
it.  Sometimes  money  was  paid  in  advance,  and  some 
times  money  stood  to  the  credit  of  the  President's  house 
hold.  In  all  these  matters  Washington  himself  had  nev 
er  personally  interfered. 

So  complete  was  the  vindication  published  by  Hamil 
ton  of  his  illustrious  friend,  that  even  the  foul  tongue  of 
faction  was  at  last  silenced,  and  the  public  confidence 
was  restored  again  to  the  founder  of  the  Republic. — 
Schmucker. 

CONTRAST  BETWEEN  BURR  AND  HAMILTON. 

Burr  was  crafty,  selfish,  unscrupulous  and  ambitious. 
He  could  assume  all  shapes  and  forms  of  political  and 
moral  character,  in  order  to  promote  his  personal  inter 
ests. 

His  chief  agents  and  favorite  means  in  the  accomplish 
ment  of  his  ends  were  secrecy  and  cunning.  From  his 
youth  he  delighted  to  throw  a  vail  of  obscurity  and  dark 
ness  over  all  his  actions,  even  where  obscurity  and  dark 
ness  were  not  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  success. 

In  weaving  the  intricate  mazes  of  political  intrigue, 
in  the  skillful  use  of  unscrupulous  means,  in  the  con- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


centration  and  combination  of  effective  forces  and  het 
erogeneous  elements,  in  perseverance  amid  difficulties,  in 
fortitude  in  the  midst  of  dangers,  in  coolness,  calmness 

and  determina 
tion,  Aaron  Burr 
had  no  superior 
among  modern 
statesmen. 

He  was  eloquent; 
but  his  eloquence 
was  simple,  un 
strained,  unadorn 
ed  and  displayed 
its  superior 
power  only  by  the 
effectiveness  with 
which  it  com 
manded  the  reas 
ons  and  swayed 
the  wills  of  men. 

He  cared  but  lit 
tle  for  his  coun 
try's  glory;  his  on 
ly  idol  was  him 
self.  He  entertained  no  faith  in  moral  obligations: 
scarcely  believed  in  the  existence  of  a  supreme  governor 
of  the  Universe;  and  was,  in  every  sense,  a  great,  gifted, 
corrupt  and  dangerous  man. 

Alexander  Hamilton  was  directly  the  opposite  of  his 
rival,  both  in  his  mental  and  moral  qualities. 


Statue  of  Hamilton  in  Statuary  Hall  (Old  House 

of  Representatives),  in  Capitol  at  Washington. 

Hamilton's  Statue  is  first  at  the  right. 

Statue  of  Lincoln  is  next. 


1 32  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

He  was  honest  and  consistent  in  his  political  belief. 
He  was  very  open,  candid  and  impulsive  in  his  nature. 
He  too  was  eloquent;  but  his  eloquence  was  stately, 
gorgeous,  ornate  and  polished.  He  more  nearly  resem 
bled  Edmund  Burke  both  as  a  writer,  a  speaker,  and  a 
statesman,  than  any  other  distinguished  man  of  modern 
times. 

There  was  no  secrecy,  craft,  or  duplicity  in  his  compo 
sition.  He  loved  his  country  with  a  lofty,  generous  and 
disinterested  patriotism;  and  to  her  glory  his  great  tal 
ents  and  unwearied  services  were  constantly  devoted. 
He  was  no  civilized  heathen;  but  believed  in  the  Chris 
tian  faith,  acknowledged  the  moral  obligation  of  man  to 
his  Creator,  and  was  guided  in  general  by  a  regard  to 
the  claims  of  moral  duty. 

The  best  estimate  of  his  character  may  be  drawn  from 
the  single  fact  that,  until  Washington's  death,  he  re 
mained  his  bosom  friend,  his  chief  favorite,  his  intimate 
and  confidential  associate. — Schmucker. 

HAMILTON'S  PROTEST  AGAINST  DUELLING. 

Hamilton  placed  on  record  his  protest  against  the 
prevalence  and  power  of  the  barbarous  code  to  which  he 
himself  was  about  to  fall  a  victim.  Among  the  papers 
which  he  left  behind  him  was  the  following: 

"On  my  expected  interview  with  Colonel  Burr,  I  think 
it  proper  to  make  some  remarks  explanatory  of  my  con 
duct,  motives,  and  views.  I  was  certainly  desirous  of 
avoiding  this  interview  for  the  most  cognent  reasons. 

ui.  My  religious  and  moral  principles  are  strongly  op- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  133 

posed  to  the  practice  of  duelling,  and  it  would  ever  give 
me  pain  to  be  obliged  to  shed  the  blood  of  a  fellow-crea 
ture  in  a  private  combat  forbidden  by  the  laws. 

U2.  My  wife  and  children  are  extremely  dear  to  me, 
and  my  life  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  them  in  vari 
ous  views. 

"3.  I  feel  a  sense  of  obligation  toward  my  creditors; 
who,  in  case  of  accident  to  me,  by  the  forced  sale  of  my 
property,  may  be  in  some  degree  sufferers.  I  did  not 
think  myself  at  liberty,  as  a  man  of  probity,  likely  to 
expose  them  to  this  hazard. 

"4.  I  am  conscious  of  no  ill-will  to  Colonel  Burr  dis 
tinct  from  political  opposition,  which,  as  I  trust,  has  pro 
ceeded  from  pure  and  upright  motives. 

"Lastly,  I  shall  hazard  much,  and  can  possibly  gain 
nothing  by  the  issue  of  the  interview. 

'•'But  it  was,  as  I  conceive,  impossible  for  me  to  avoid 
it.  There  were  intrinsic  difficulties  in  the  thing,  and 
artificial  embarrassments  from  the  manner  of  proceeding 
on  the  part  of  Colonel  Burr. 

"Intrinsic,  because  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  my  ani 
madversions  on  the  political  principles,  character,  and 
views  of  Colonel  Burr  have  been  extremely  severe;  and, 
on  different  occasions,  I,  in  common  with  many  others, 
have  made  very  unfavorable  criticisms  on  particular  in 
stances  of  the  private  conduct  of  this  gentleman. 

"It  is  not  my  design,  by  what  I  have  said  to  affix  any 
odium  on  the  character  of  Colonel  Burr  in  this  case.  He 
doubtless  has  heard  of  animadversions  of  mine  which 
bore  very  hard  upon  him;  and  it  is  probable  that,  as  us- 


I34  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

ual,  they  were  accompanied  with  some  falsehoods.  He 
may  have  supposed  himself  under  a  necessity  of  act 
ing  as  he  has  done.  I  hope  the  grounds  of  his  proceed 
ing  have  been  such  as  ought  to  satisfy  his  own  con 
science. 

"I  trust,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  world  will  do  me 
the  justice  to  believe  that  I  have  not  censured  him  on 
light  grounds  nor  from  unworthy  inducements. 

"I  certainly  have  had  strong  reasons  for  what  I  have 
said,  though  it  is  possible  that  in  some  particulars  I  have 
been  influenced  by  misconstruction  or  misinformation. 
It  is  also  my  ardent  wish  that  I  may  have  been  more 
mistaken  than  I  think  I  have  been;  and  that  he,  by  his 
future  conduct,  may  show  himself  worthy  of  all  confi 
dence  and  esteem,  and  prove  an  ornament  and  blessing 
to  the  country. 

"As  well,  because  it  is  possible  that  I  may  have  in 
jured  Colonel  Burr,  however  convinced  myself  that  my 
opinions  and  declarations  have  been  well  founded,  as 
from  my  general  principles  and  temper  in  relation  to  sim 
ilar  affairs,  I  have  resolved,  if  our  interview  is  conducted 
in  the  usual  manner,  and  it  pleases  God  to  give  me  the 
opportunity,  to  reserve  and  throw  away  my  first  fire;  and 
I  have  thoughts  even  of  reserving  my  second,  and  thus 
giving  a  double  opportunity  to  Colonel  Burr  to  pause  and 
repent. 

"It  is  not  my  intention,  however,  to  enter  into  any 
explanation  on  the  ground.  Apology,  from  principle  I 
hope  rather  than  pride,  is  out  of  the  question. 

"To  those  who,  with  me,  abhorring  the  practice  of  du- 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  135 

elling,  may  think  that  I  ought  on  no  account  to  have 
added  to  the  number  of  bad  examples,  I  answer,  that  my 
relative  situation,  as  well  in  public  as  in  private,  enforc 
ing  all  the  considerations  which  constitute  what  men  of 
the  world  denominate  honor  imposed  on  me,  as  I  thought, 
a  peculiar  necessity  not  to  decline  the  call. 

"The  ability  to  be  in  the  future  useful, whether  in  resist 
ing  mischief  or  effecting  good  in  those  crises  of  our  public 
affairs  which  seem  likely  to  happen,  would  probably  be 
inseparable  from  a  conformity  with  public  prejudice  in 
this  particular." 

Mr.  Hamilton  also  wrote  a  letter  for  Mrs.  Hamilton,  to 
be  delivered  in  case  he  fell.  In  it  he  assured  her  that 
he  had  taken  all  possible  means  to  avoid  the  duel,  ex 
cept  in  acting  in  such  a  manner  as  would  forfeit  her  es 
teem;  that  he  had  determined  not  to  fire  at  Burr,  and 
that  he  expected  to  fall.  He  asked  her  forgiveness  for 
inflicting  so  much  pain,  and  commended  her  and  her 
children  to  God. 

FUNERAL  OF  HAMILTON. 

When  the  hour  appointed  for  the  funeral  arrived,  a 
more  imposing  scene  had  never  been  witnessed  on  this 
continent,  than  that  which  was  then  presented. 

The  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  very  properly  took 
charge  of  the  last  obsequies  of  their  departed  brother. 
Twenty-three  different  orders,  societies  and  corporations 
joined  the  funeral  procession,  besides  the  military  array, 
composed  of  both  infantry  and  artillery. 

The  great  standard  of  the  order  of  the   Cincinnati, 


,36 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


which  Washington  himself  had  consecrated,  shrouded  in 
crape,  was  carried  in  the  procession  in  the  rear  of  the 
corpse.  Solemn  martial  music,  hallowed  in  the  memories 
of  not  a  few  then  present  by  many  revolutionary  scenes, 
reverberated  through  the  silent  air,  and  drew  tears  from 
myriads  of  eyes.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  procession  moved. 

The  pall  was  supported  by 
eight  of  the  most  distinguished 
citizens  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  the  personal  friends  of 
the  deceased.  On  the  top  of 
the  coffin  were  placed  the  gen 
eral's  hat  and  sword.  His  old 
charger,  which  had  carried  him 
over  more  than  one  field  of 
blood, was  dressed  in  mourning 
and  led  behind  the  bier. 

When  the  immense  proces 
sion  arrived  at  Trinity  Church 
on  Broadway,  Governeur  Morris,  surrounded  by  the 
four  sons  of  General  Hamilton,  delivered  an  oration 
characterized  by  solemn  and  appropriate  eloquence,  from 
a  stage  erected  in  front  of  the  church. 

The  multitude  were  bathed  in  tears,  while  the  impres 
sive  voice  of  the  orator  gave  utterance  to  thoughts  which 
found  a  ready  echo  in  every  heart.  Speaking  of  the  il 
lustrious  dead,  he  said: 

"You  have  long  witnessed  his  professional  conduct  and 
felt  his  unrivaled  eloquence.  You  know  how  well  he 
performed  the  duties  of  a  citizen.  You  know  that  he 


John  Rutledge, 

American  Statesman  and  Jurist. 
Born  1739.    Died  1800. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  137 

never  courted  your  favors  by  adulation  or  the  sacrifice 
of  his  own  judgment.  You  have  seen  him  contending 
against  you,  saving  your  dearest  interests  as  it  were  in 
spite  of  yourselves.  And  now  you  feel  and  enjoy  the 
benefits  resulting  from  the  firm  energy  of  his  conduct. 

"Bear  this  testimony  to  the  memory  of  my  departed 
friend.  I  charge  you  to  protect  his  fame.  It  is  all  he 
has  left  -  all  that  these  poor  orphan  children  will  inherit 
from  their  father. 

"But,  my  countrymen,  that  fame  may  be  a  rich  treas 
ure  to  you  also.  Let  it  be  the  test  by  which  to  examine 
those  who  solicit  your  favor.  Disregarding  professions 
view  their  conduct,  and  on  a  doubtful  occasion  ask,' 
Would  Hamilton  have  done  this  thing? 

"You  all  know  how  he  perished.  On  this  last  scene  I 
cannot,  I  must  not  dwell.  I  might  excite  emotions  too 
strong  for  your  better  judgment.  Suffer  not  your  indig 
nation  to  lead  to  any  act  which  might  again  offend  the 
insulted  majesty  of  the  law.  On  his  part,  as  from  his 
lips,  though  with  my  voice, — for  his  voice  you  will  hear 
no  more, — let  me  entreat  you  to  respect  yourselves." 

RESULT  OF  THE  DUEL. 

The  result  of  the  duel  was  to  deprive  Burr  of  all  pow 
er  and  influence.  He  killed  Hamilton,  but  he  fell  him 
self  by  the  same  shot  that  carried  death  to  his  opponent; 
and  so  complete  was  his  fall  that  he  never  could  rise 
again,  though  he  continued  to  cumber  the  earth  for  more 
than  thirty-two  years.  Hamilton's  quarrel  with  Burr,  as 
his  son  and  biographer  truly  observes,  "was  the  quarrel 


138  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

of  his  country.  It  was  the  last  act  in  the  great  drama 
of  his  life.  It  was  the  deliberate  sacrifice  of  that  life  for 
his  country's  welfare, —  a  sacrifice  which,  by  overwhelm 
ing  his  antagonist  with  the  execrations  of  the  American 
people,  prevented  a  civil  war,  and  saved  from  'dismem 
berment'  this  great  republic." — C.  C.  Hazewell. 


Grave  of  Aaron  Burr,  Princeton,  N.  J 
AARON  BURR. 

Burr  was  utterly  indifferent  to  all  political  principle. 
He  never  really  belonged  to  any  party,  and  was  as  ready 
to  act  with  Federalists  as  with  Democrats;  and  it  was 
only  through  the  force  of  circumstances  that  he  did  act 
generally  with  the  latter.  A  party  man  never  would 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  139 

have  done  as  Burr  saw  fit  to  do  when  the  Presidential 
election  of  1801  devolved  on  the  House  of  Representa 
tives.  The  party  to  which  he  professed  to  belong  in 
tended,  as  everybody  knew,  that  Jefferson  should  be  Pres 
ident;  and  yet  Burr  allowed  himself  to  be  used  against 
Jefferson.  That  "all  is  fair  in  politics"  was  his  creed. 
He  may  have  been  ua  man  of  honor,"  but  what  Lord 
Macaulay  says  of  Avaux  is  strictly  applicable  to  him, 
namely, — "that  of  the  difference  between  right  and 
wrong  he  had  no  more  notion  than  a  brute." — C.  C. 
HazewelL 

LAST  DAYS  OF  AARON  BURR. 

•Besides  the  mighty  load  of  universal  obloquy  and  hate 
which  overwhelmed  Burr  as  the  murderer  of  an  inno 
cent  and  illustrious  victim,  poverty  and  suffering  attend 
ed  him  during  his  remaining  years. 

Thus,  when  wandering  in  France,  an  exile  and  an  out 
cast,  suspected  and  frowned  on  by  Napoleon,  he  records 
as  follows  in  his  diary  of  November  23,  1810:  "Nothing 
from  America,  and  really  I  shall  starve.  Borrowed  three 
francs  to-day.  Four  or  five  little  debts  keep  me  in  con 
stant  alarm;  altogether,  about  two  Louis. 

"December  i,  1810.  came  in  upon  me  this 

morning,  just  as  I  was  out  of  bed,  for  twenty-seven  livres. 
Paid  him,  which  took  literally  my  last  sous. 

"When  at  Denon's,  thought  I  might  as  well  go  to  St. 
Pelasgie;  set  off,  but  recollected  I  owed  the  woman  who 
sits  in  the  passage  two  sous  for  a  cigar,  so  turned  about 
to  pursue  my  way  by  the  Pont  des  Arts,  which  was  with 
in  fifty  paces;  remembered  I  had  not  wherewith  to  pay 


140  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

the  toll,  being  one  sous;  had  to  go  all  the  way  round  by 
the  Pont  Royal,  more  than  half  a  mile." 

Burr  was  subsequently  afflicted  with  the  mysterious 
and  premature  death  of  his  daughter,  Theodosia  Alston, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  women  of 
her  time.  She  and  her  son  were  supposed  to  have  been 
lost  at  sea. 

At  length  this  aged  curse  of  his  country  and  disgrace 
of  his  race  died  at  New  York,  on  the  i4th  of  September, 
1836,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 

He  survived  his  duel  with  General  Hamilton  more 
than  thirty  years;  and  during  that  long  and  cheerless 
interval  he  passed  through  scenes  of  trial,  anxiety  and 
suffering  which  would  have  completely  crushed  any  in 
tellect  not  as  powerful,  and  any  heart  not  as  adamantine, 
as  his  own. 

PERSONAL  APPEARANCE  OF  HAMILTON. 

The  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Hamilton  was  pleas 
ing  and  attractive.  When  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight,  he 
resumed  the  practice  of  the  law  in  New  York,  in  1795, 
he  was  thus  described: 

"He  was  under  the  middle  size,thin  in  person,  and  very 
erect,  courtly  and  dignified  in  his  bearing.  His  hair  was 
combed  back  from  his  forehead,  powdered  and  collected 
in  a  cue  behind.  His  complexion  was  very  delicate  and 
fair,  his  cheeks  rosy,  and  the  whole  expression  pleasing 
and  cheerful.  His  forehead  was  lofty,  capacious  and 
prominent. 

"His  appearance  accorded  well  with  the  expectations 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.      -  141 

which  his  prodigious  fame  excited.  His  voice  was 
musical,  his  manner  frank  and  impulsive.  His  ordinary 
dress  was  a  blue  coat  with  gilt  buttons,  a  white  silk 
waistcoat,  black  silk  small-clothes,  and  white  silk  stock 
ings. 

"His  figure,  though  slight,  was  well  proportioned  and 
graceful.  His  appearance  and  carriage  betokened  the 
possessor  of  a  masterly  intellect,  and  one  fully  conscious 
of  his  powers." — Schmucker. 

QUALITIES  OF  HAMILTON. 

When  Mr.  Webster  so  happily  compared  the  instan- 
taneousness  and  perfection  of  his  financial  system  to  "the 
fabled  birth  of  Minerva,"  he  did  but  allude  to  what  is  to 
be  remarked  of  all  Hamilton's  works.  All  that  he  did 
was  perfect,  and  no  one  seems  to  have  been  aware  of  his 
power  until  he  had  established  the  fact  of  its  existence. 

Such  a  combination  of  precocity  end  versatility  stands 
quite  unparalelled. 

Octavius,  William  the  Third,  Henry  St.  John,  Charles 
James  Fox,  and  William  Pitt  the  younger,  all  showed 
various  p£wers  at  early  periods  of  their  lives;  but  not 
one  of  them  was  the  equal  of  Hamilton  in  respect  to  ear 
ly  maturity  of  intellect,  or  in  ability  to  command  success 
in  every  department  to  which  he  turned  his  attention. 

The  historical  character  of  whom  he  most  reminds  us 
is  the  elder  Africanus. 

In  the  early  development  of  his  faculties,  in  his  self- 
reliant  spirit,  in  his  patriotism,  in  his  kingliness  of  mind, 
in  his  personal  purity,  in  his  generosity  of  thought  and 


I4z  ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 

of  action,  and  in  the  fear  and  envy  that  he  excited  in  in 
ferior  minds,  he  was  a  repetition  of  the  most  majestic  of 
all  the  Romans. 

But,  unlike  the  Roman  soldier-statesman,  he  did  not 
desert  the  land  he  had  saved,  but  which  had  proved  un 
grateful;  and  the  grave  only  was  to  be  his  L-iternum. 

He  died  at  not  far  from  the  same  age  as  that  to  which 
Africanus  reached.  In  comparing  him  with  certain  oth 
er  men  who  achieved  fame  early,  it  should  be  remem 
bered  that  they  all  were  regularly  prepared  for  public 
life,  and  were  born  to  it  as  to  an  inheritance;  whereas 
he,  though  of  patrician  blood,  was  possessed  of  no  ad 
vantages  of  fortune,  and  had  to  fight  the  battle  of  life 
while  fighting  the  battles  of  the  nation.—  C.  C.  HazewelL 

EXCELLENCIES  OF  HAMILTON. 

Alexander  Hamilton  was  the  indefatigable  soldier  of 
the  press,  the  pen  and  the  army;  in  each  field  he  carried 
a  sword  which,  like  the  one  borne  by  the  angel  at  the 
gate  of  Paradise,  flashed  its  guardian  care  on  every  hand. 

In  martial  affairs  he  was  an  adept,  in  literary  excel 
lence  he  was  unexcelled,  and  in  political  discernment  he 
was  universally  acknowledged  to  be  superior  among  the 
great. 

We  read  his  writings  with  ever-increasing  zest,  fasci 
nated  by  the  seductive  charms  of  his  style,  and  impelled 
by  the  opening  splendors  of  his  far-reaching  and  compre 
hensive  thoughts.  They  accumulate  with  a  beautiful 
symmetry,  and  emanate  legitimately  from  his  theme. 
They  expand  and  grow,  as  an  acorn  rises  into  an  oak,  of 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  143 

which  all  the  branches  shoot  out  of  the  same  trunk, 
nourished  in  every  part  by  the  same  sap,  and  form  a  per 
fect  unit,  amid  all  the  diversified  tints  of  the  foliage  and 
the  infinite  complexity  of  the  boughs. 

"That  writer  would  deserve  the  fame  of  a  public  ben 
efactor,"  said  Fisher  Ames,  "who  could  exhibit  the  char 
acter  of  Hamilton  with  the  truth  and  force  that  all  who 
intimately  knew  him  conceived  it;  his  example  would 
then  take  the  same  ascendant  as  his  talents. 

"The  portrait  alone,  however  exquisitely  finished,  could 
not  inspire  genius  where  it  is  not;  but  if  the  world 
should  again  have  possession  of  ^o  rare  a  gift,  it  might 
awaken  it  where  it  sleeps,  as  by  a  spark  from  heaven's 
own  altar;  for  surely  if  there  is  anything  like  divinity  in 
man  it  is  in  his  admiration  for  virtue. 

"The  country  deeply  laments  when  it  turns  its  eyes 
back  and  sees  what  Hamilton  was;  but  my  soul  stiffens 
with  despair,"  continues  Ames,  "when  I  think  what 
Hamilton  would  have  been.  It  is  not  as  Apollo,  enchant 
ing  the  shepherds  with  his  lyre,  that  we  deplore  him;  it 
is  as  Hercules,  treacherously  slain  in  the  midst  of  his 
unfinished  labors,  leaving  the  world  overrun  with  mon 
sters." — E.  L.  Magoon. 

MARSHALL'S  TRIBUTE  TO  HAMILTON. 

(Life  of  Washington.) 

1  'Seldom  has  any  minister  excited  the  opposite  pas 
sions  of  love  and  hate  in  a  higher  degree  than  Colonel 
Hamilton.  His  talents  were  too  prominent  not  to  re 
ceive  the  tribute  of  profound  respect  from  all;  and  his  in- 


I44  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

tegrity  and  honor  as  a  man,  not  less  than  his  official  rec 
titude,  though  slandered  at  a  distance,  were  admitted  to 
be  superior  to  reproach  by  those  enemies  who  knew  him. 

"But  with  respect  to  his  political  principles  and  de 
signs,  the  most  contradictory  opinions  were  entertained. 
While  one  party  sincerely  believed  his  object  to  be  the 
preservation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in 
its  purity;  the  other,  with  perhaps  equal  sincerity,  im 
puted  to  him  the  insidious  intention  of  subverting  it. 
While  his  friends  were  persuaded  that,  as  a  statesman, 
he  viewed  foreign  nations  with  an  equal  eye,  his  ene 
mies  could  perceive  in  his  conduct  only  hostility  to 
France  and  attachment  to  her  rival. 

"In  the  good  opinion  of  the  President,  to  whom  he 
was  best  known,  he  had  always  held  a  high  place;  and 
he  carried  with  him  out  of  office  the  same  cordial  esteem 
for  his  character,  and  respect  for  his  talents,  which  had 
induced  his  appointment." 

HAMILTON'S  SELF-CONFIDENCE. 

It  was  not  until  the  2d  of  September  that  the  Treas 
ury  Department  was  created;  and  on  the  nth  Alexander 
Hamilton  was  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Writing  to  Robert  Morris,  Washington  had  asked, 
"What  are  we  to  do  with  this  heavy  debt?" 

To  which  Morris  answered,  "There  is  but  one  man  in 
the  United  States  who  can  tell  you:  that  is  Alexander 
Hamilton." 

"I  am  glad  you  have  given  me  this  opportunity  to  de 
clare  to  you  the  extent  of  the  obligations  I  am  under  to 
him." 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  145 

Hamilton  had  thought  of  the  station  for  himself,  but 
bis  warmest  personal  friends  objected  to  his  taking  it. 

Robert  Troup  says — "I  remonstrated  with  him:  he  ad 
mitted  that  his  acceptance  of  it  would  be  likely  to  injure 
his  family,  but  said  there  was  a  strong  impression  on  his 
mind  that  in  the  financial  department  he  would  essen 
tially  promote  the  welfare  of  the  country;  and  this  im 
pression,  united  with  Washington's  request,  forbade  his 
refusal  of  the  appointment." 

Having  said,  in  conversing  with  Gouverneur  Morris, 
that  he  was  confident  he  could  restore  public  credit, 
Morris  remonstrated  with  him  for  thinking  of  so  peril 
ous  a  position,  on  which  calumny  and  persecution  were 
the  inevitable  attendants. 

"Of  that,"  Hamilton  answered, "I  am  aware;  but  I  am 
convinced  it  is  the  situation  in  which  I  can  do  most 
good." 

He  had  the  same  just  self-confidence  that  Cromwell 
felt,  when  he  said  to  John  Hampden  that  he  would  effect 
something  for  the  Parliamentary  cause,  and  that  William 
Pitt  felt  in  1757,  when  he  said  to  the  Duke  of  Devon 
shire. 

uMy  Lord,  I  am  sure  that  I  can  save  this  country,  and 
that  nobody  else  can. " 

As  with  Cromwell  and  with  Pitt,  Hamilton's  self- con 
fidence  was  to  be  conclusively  justified  by  the  event— 
C.  C.  HasewelL 

HAMILTON  AT  VALLEY  FORGE. 
Near  the  headquarters  of  Washington,  at  Valley  Forge, 


146  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

were  the  tains  of  an  old  flour-mill,  whose  clack  was 
heard  before  the  Revolution,  nor  ceased  until  within  a 
few  years.  Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Brandy  wine, 
and  previous  to  the  encampment  here,  the  Americans 
had  made  a  considerable  deposit  of  stores  at  this  mill. 

Howe  sent  a  detachment  of  British  troops  to  seize 
them;  but  Washington,  anticipating  this  attempt,  had 
sent  Lieutenant-Colonel  (afterward  General)  Hamilton, 
and  Captain  (afterward  General)  Henry  Lee,  with  a  small 
troop  of  horse  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  these  stores. 

Hamilton,  with  proper  precaution,  stationed  two  vi- 
dettes  upon  the  southern  hill  overlooking  the  valley,  and 
also  secured  a  flat  bottomed  boat  on  which  to  cross  the 
Schuylkill,  in  the  event  of  the  sudden  appearance  of  the 
enemy.  The  troops  had  crossed  the  mill-race,  and  were 
about  to  commence  the  work  of  demolition,  when  the 
alarm-guns  of  the  videttes  were  heard,  and  they  were 
seen  sweeping  down  the  hill,  closely  pursued  by  some 
British  dragoons. 

Four  of  the  American  horsemen,  with  Hamilton,  took 
to  the  boat;  while  Lee,  with  the  other  four,  and  the  vi 
dettes,  crossed  the  bridge  and  escaped,  amid  a  shower  of 
bullets  from  the  enemy.  Hamilton  and  his  party  were 
also  fired  upon,  but  were  unharmed. 

Lee  was  fearful  that  his  comrades,  with  Hamilton, 
were  killed  or  made  prisoners,  for  he  heard  volley  after 
volley  fired  from  the  carbines  of  the  enemy,  while  there 
was  only  an  occasional  response  from  his  friends.  Lee 
dispatched  a  dragoon  to  the  Commander-in-chief, describ 
ing  what  had  occurred,  and  expressing  his  anxious  fears 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  H7 

for  the  safety  of  Hamilton  and  his  men.  While  Wash 
ington  was  reading  Lee's  letter,  Hamilton  rode  up,  and 
with  quite  as  much  distress  depicted  in  his  face  as  the 
former  had  exhibited  in  his  note,  expressed  his  fears 
that  his  friend  Lee  was  cut  off.  Washington  quieted 
his  apprehensions  by  handing  him  Lee's  letter. 

BATTLE  OF  TRENTON. 

The  summer  and  fall  of  1776  was  the  most  gloomy 
period  of  the  American  Revolution. 

General  Washington  had  been  obliged  to  retreat  from 
Long  Island  to  New  York,  thence  over  the  Hudson  to 
New  Jersey,  and  through  New  Jersey  to  Pennsylvania, 
vigorously  pursued  by  an  enemy  flushed  with  a  series  of 
successes. 

The  retreat  through  New  Jersey  was  attended  with 
circumstances  of  a  painful  and  trying  nature. 

Washington's  army,  which  had  consisted  of  30,000 
men,  was  now  diminished  to  scarcely  3000,  and  these 
were  without  supplies,  without  pay,  and  many  of  them 
without  shoes  or  comfortable  clothing. 

Their  footsteps  were  stained  with  blood  as  they  fled 
before  the  enemy.  The  affairs  of  the  Americans  seemed 
in  such  a  desperate  condition,  that  those  who  had  been 
most  confident  of  success,  began  despairingly  to  give  up 
all  for  lost. 

Many  Americans  joined  the  British,  and  took  protect 
ion  from  them.  In  this  season  of  general  despondency, 
the  American  Congress  recommended  to  each  of  the 
states  to  observe  ua  day  of  solemn  fasting  and  humilia 
tion  before  God." 


148  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

General  Washington  saw  the  necessity  of  making  a 
desperate  effort  for  the  salvation  of  his  country.  On  the 
night  of  the  25th  of  December,  1776,  the  American  ar 
my  recrossed  the  Delaware,  which  was  filled  with  pieces 
of  floating  ice,  and  marched  to  attack  a  division  of  Hes 
sians,  who  had  advanced  to  Trenton.  The  sun  had  just 
risen,  as  the  tents  of  the  enemy  appeared  in  sight.  No 
time  was  to  be  lost — Washington,  rising  on  his  stirrups, 
waved  his  sword  toward  the  hostile  army,  and  exclaimed: 

"There,  my  brave  friends,  are  the  enemies  of  your 
country!  and  now  all  I  have  to  ask  of  you  is,  to  remem 
ber  what  you  are  about  to  fight  for!  March!" 

The  troops,  animated  by  their  commander,  pressed  on 
to  the  charge;  the  Hessians  were  taken  by  surprise,  and 
the  contest  was  soon  decided:  about  1000  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  40  killed,  among  whom  was  their  com 
mander,  (a  German  officer,)  Colonel  Rahl. 

BATTLE  OF  PRINCETON,  IN  WHICH  HAMILTON  TOOK 

AN  ACTIVE  PART. 

Jan.  3,  1777. 

General  Washington,  having  secured  the  Hessian  pris 
oners  on  the  Pennsylvania  side  of  the  Delaware,  recrossed 
the  river  two  days  after  the  action,  and  took  possession 
of  Trenton. 

Generals  Mifflin  and  Cadwallader,  who  lay  at  Borden- 
town  and  Crosswix  with  3600  militia,  were  ordered  to 
march  up  in  the  night  of  the  ist  of  January,  to  join  the 
Commander-in-chief,  whose  whole  effective  force,  includ 
ing  this  accession,  did  not  exceed  5000  men. 

The  detachments  of  the  British  army,  which  had  been 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  H9 

distributed  over  New  Jersey,  now  assembled  at  Prince 
ton,  and  were  joined  by  the  army  from  Brunswick  under 
Lord  Cornwallis. 

From  this  position  the  enemy  advanced  toward  Tren 
ton  in  great  force,  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  January; 
and,  after  some  slight  skirmishing  with  troops,  detached 
to  harass  and  delay  their  march,  the  van  of  their  army 
reached  Trenton  about  four  in  the  afternoon. 

On  their  approach,  General  Washington  retired  across 
the  Assumpiuck,  a  rivulet  that  runs  through  the  town, 
and,  by  some  field-pieces  posted  on  its  opposite  banks, 
compelled  them,  after  attempting  to  cross  in  several 
places,  to  fall  back  out  of  the  reach  of  his  guns. 

The  two  armies,  kindling  their  fires,  retained  their  po 
sition  on  opposite  sides  of  the  rivulet,  and  kept  up  a  can 
nonade  until  night. 

The  situation  of  the  American  general  was  at  this  mo 
ment  extremely  critical.  Nothing  but  a  stream,  in  many 
places  fordable,  separated  his  army  from  an  enemy,  in 
every  respect  its  superior. 

If  he  remained  in  his  present  position,  he  was  certain 
of  being  attacked  the  next  morning,  at  the  hazard  of  the 
entire  destruction  of  his  little  army. 

If  he  should  retreat  over  the  Delaware,  the  ice  in  that 
river  not  being  firm  enough  to  admit  a  passage  upon  it, 
there  was  danger  of  great  loss,  perhaps  of  a  total  defeat; 
the  Jerseys  would  be  in  full  possession  of  the  enemy;  the 
public  mind  would  be  depressed;  recruiting  would  be 
discouraged;  and  Philadelphia  would  be  within  the  reach 
of  General  Howe. 


150  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

In  this  extremity,  he  boldly  determined  to  abandon 
the  Delaware,  and  by  a  circuitous  march  along  the  left 
flank  of  the  enemy,  fall  into  their  rear  at  Princeton. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark,  the  baggage  was  silently  re 
moved  to  Burlington;  and  about  one  o'clock  the  army, 
leaving  its  fires  lighted,  and  the  sentinels  on  the  margin 
of  the  creek,  decamped  with  perfect  secrecy. 

Its  movement  was  providentially  favored  by  the  weath 
er,  which  had  previously  been  so  warm  and  moist,  that 
the  ground  was  soft,  and  the  roads  were  scarcely  passable; 
but,  the  wind  suddenly  changing  to  the  northwest,  the 
ground  was  in  a  short  time  frozen  as  hard  as  a  pavement. 
About  sunrise,  two  British  regiments,  that  were  on  their 
march  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mawhood  to  join  the 
rear  of  the  British  army  at  Maidenhead,  fell  in  with  the 
van  of  the  Americans,  conducted  by  General  Mercer,  and 
a  very  sharp  action  ensued. 

The  advanced  party  of  the  Americans,  composed  chief 
ly  of  militia,  soon  gave  way,  and  the  few  regulars  at 
tached  to  them  could  not  maintain  their  ground.  Gen 
eral  Mercer,  while  gallantly  exerting  himself  to  rally  his 
broken  troops,  received  a  mortal  wound.  The  British 
rushed  forward  with  fixed  bayonets,  and  drove  back  the 
Americans. 

General  Washington,  who  followed  close  in  the  rear, 
now  led  on  the  main  body  of  the  army,  and  attacked  the 
enemy  with  great  spirit. 

While  he  exposed  himself  to  their  hottest  fire,  he  was 
so  well  supported  by  the  same  troops  which  had  aided 
him  a  few  days  before  in  the  victory  at  Trenton,  that  the 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  151 

British  were  compelled  to  give  way.  The  Seventeenth 
Regiment,  which  was  in  front,  forced  its  way  through  a 
part  of  the  American  troops,  and  reached  Maidenhead. 
The  Fifty-fifth  Regiment,  which  was  in  the  rear,  re 
treated  by  the  way  of  Hillsborough  to  Brunswick. 

General  Washington  pressed  forward  to  Princeton. 

A  party  of  the  British  that  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
college,  after  receiving  a  few  discharges  from  the  Amer 
ican  field-pieces,  came  out  and  surrendered  themselves 
prisoners  of  war;  but  the  principal  part  of  the  regiment 
that  was  left  there  saved  itself  by  a  precipitate  retreat  to 
Brunswick.  Both  in  the  Battle  of  Trenton  and  that  of 
Prn^fccon,  Hamilton  rendered  efficient  aid. 

In  the  retreat  of  the  Americans,  Hamilton  effected  a 
diversion  in  favor  of  the  patriot  army  by  planting  his  ar 
tillery  on  a  high  ground  which  commanded  the  ford  of 
the  river,  and  playing  so  effectively  on  the  British  lines 
as  to  delay  their  progress,  and  enable  Washington  to 
make  good  his  retreat. 

When  the  American  army  went  into  winter  quarters 
at  Morristown,  on  March  ist,  1777,  Hamilton  was  justly 
rewarded  for  his  services  by  the  appointment  of  aid-de 
camp  and  private  secretary  to  Washington,  with  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

SIEGE  OF  YORKTOWN. 

The  autumn  of  1780  found  the  British  in  possession 
of  most  of  the  southern  states.  Charleston  had  fallen, 
South  Carolina  had  been  overrun,  Virginia  was  threat 
ened;  and  the  victorious  Gates,  advancing  to  the  succor 


i  52  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

of  the  patriots,  had  been  totally  destroyed  at  Camden. 
But  the  savage  policy  adopted  by  Cornwallis  to  secure 
his  conquest  was  ultimately  the  cause  of  his  ruin. 

He  issued  a  proclamation,  sequestering  the  estates  of 
all  those,  not  included  in  the  capitulation  of  Charleston, 
who  were  in  the  service  or  acting  under  the  authority  of 
Congress,  and  of  all  others  who,  by  an  open  avowal  of 
liberal  principles,  or  other  notorious  acts,  should  show  a 
leaning  to  the  colonial  authorities.  At  this  juncture 
Marion  appeared;  the  militia  flocked  to  his  standard;  and 
the  success  of  the  partisan  war  carried  on  by  him  and 
Sumpter  raised  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  whigs. 

The  appointment  of  Greene  to  the  command  of  the 
southern  army,  and  the  brilliant  affair  at  the  Cowpens, 
still  further  exalted  their  hopes;  so  that  even  the  check 
at  Guilford  Court  House  failed  to  dishearten  them.  In 
deed,  the  result  of  that  battle  was  almost  as  unfavorable 
to  the  British  as  to  the  Americans. 

In  a  few  days  Greene  was  ready  to  renew  the  contest; 
but  Cornwallis  eluded  his  grasp,  and  reached  Wilming 
ton,  in  his  way  to  Virginia,  on  the  yfh  of  April,  1781. 
The  American  leader,  finding  it  impossible  to  bring  his 
enemy  to  battle,  took  the  bold  resolution  of  marching 
into  South  Carolina,  and  thus  forcing  Cornwallis  to  fol 
low  him  or  abandon  his  conquests. 

The  British  general,  on  receiving  intelligence  of  this 
movement,  hesitated,  but  finally  determined  to  pursue 
his  first  design,  and  over-run  Virginia. 

By  this  daring  step  he  would  place  his  army  in  a  coun 
try  not  yet  wasted  by  war,  and  where,  consequently,  sup- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  i  53 

plies  would  be  plentiful;  while,  if  he  should  succeed  in 
reducing  the  colony,  the  subjugation  of  the  other  south 
ern  states  would  inevitably  follow,  no  matter  how  fortu 
nate  Greene,  in  the  mean  time,  might  be. 

For  a  time  success  followed  every  footstep  of  the  foe. 
Cornwallis,  advancing  rapidly  northward,  had  united 
himself  to  the  British  Generals,  Phillips  and  Arnold,  as 
early  as  the  latter  end  of  May;  while  La  Fayette,  who- 
had  been  dispatched  to  succor  Greene,  but  had  been  ar- 
i  ested  by  the  enemy  on  the  James  River,  was  preserved 
from  capture  only  by  his  energy  and  address. 

At  length  a  junction  was  effected  between  him  and 
Wayne,  and  subsequently  a  detachment  led  by  Baron, 
Steuben  still  further  increased  his  force.  Happily,  at 
this  crisis,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  alarmed  by  Washington's 
preparations  for  the  siege  of  New  York,  recalled  a  por 
tion  of  the  force  of  Cornwallis,  and  that  general,  now 
somewhat  weakened,  retired  to  Yorktown. 

The  brave  continentals  traversed  now,  with  far  differ 
ent  feelings,  the  ground  over  which  they  had  fled  a  few 
years  before,  ill-provisioned,  poorly  clothed,  and  mark 
ing  their  footsteps  with  blood.  There  was  before  them 
the  prospect  of  reducing  a  formidable  army,  with  but  lit 
tle  expense  of  blood  and  treasure,  and  thus  revenging 
their  own  wrongs  and  redeeming  their  country. 

They  had  already  eluded  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  a  few 
days  would  probably  enable  them  to  surround  Cornwal 
lis.  They  marched  on  with  high  hopes,  cheering  their 
way  with  songs,  and  before  the  end  of  September  arrived 
at  Williamsburgh,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  foe. 


154  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

Meantime,  the  French  fleet,  in  pursuance  of  the  con 
certed  plan,  had  reached  the  Chesapeake,  while  Corn- 
wallis,  too  late  aware  of  the  net  in  which  he  was  in 
volved,  had  been  assiduously  occupied  in  fortifying  his 
position. 

Having  formed  a  junction  with  La  Fayette,  the  allied 
army,  commanded  by  Washington  in  person,  moved 
down  from  Williamsburgh  to  Yorktown;  and  on  the  3Oth 
of  September  occupied  the  outer  lines  of  Cornwallis, 
which  that  general  had  abandoned  without  a  struggle. 
Two  thousand  men  were  detailed  to  the  Gloucester  side 
to  blockade  that  post.  The  investment  was  now  com 
plete. 

A  noble  emulation  fired  the  soldiers  of  the  respective 
nations  as  they  advanced  across  the  plain.  La  Fayette 
led  the  continentals:  the  Baron  de  Viominel  commanded 
his  countrymen. 

The  redoubt  entrusted  to  the  Americans,  led  by  Ham 
ilton,  was  carried  at  the  bayonet's  point,  the  assailants 
rushing  on  with  such  impetuosity  that  the  sappers  had 
not  time  to  remove  the  abattis  and  palisades.  The 
French  were  equally  courageous  and  successful,  though, 
as  their  redoubt  was  defended  by  a  larger  force,  the  con 
quest  was  not  so  speedy,  and  their  loss  was  greater. 

It  was  a  proud  day  for  the  war-worn  troops  of  America, 
when  the  richly  appointed  soldiery  of  Britain  marched 
out  with  dejected  faces  from  their  wrorks,  and  in  pro 
found  silence  stacked  their  arms  on  the  plain,  in  pres 
ence  of  the  conquerers. 

But  no  unmanly  exultation  was  seen  among  the  allies. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  i  5  5 

With  decent  pity  they  gazed  on  the  spectacle,  reserving 
their  congratulations  for  their  private  quarters. 

But  there,  the  rejoicings  were  loud  and  fervent,  and 
the  gay  Frenchmen  from  the  Loire  joined  in  triumphal 
songs  with  the  hardy  sons  of  New  England,  or  the  more 
enthusiastic  Virginian. 

HAMILTON'S  GALLANTRY  AT  YORKTOWN. 

The  gallantry  of  the  storm  was  not  less  distinguished 
than  the  humanity  of  the  victors.  In  the  midst  of  the 
works,  as  soon  as  Hamilton  saw  the  enemy  driven  back, 
he  ordered  his  men  to  halt,  and  excepting  in  the  charge 
at  the  onset,  not  a  man  was  injured. 

An  incident  occurred  as  soon  as  they  entered  the  re 
doubt,  to  which  Hamilton  refers  in  his  report.  "Incapa 
ble  of  imitating  examples  of  barbarity,  and  forgetting  re 
cent  provocations,  the  soldiery  spared  every  man  who 
ceased  to  fight. ' ' 

Colonel  Scammel,  of  the  light  infantry,  while  recon- 
noitering,  a  few  days  before,  was  surprised  by  a  party  of 
horse,  and  after  he  was  taken  was  wantonly  wounded,  of 
which  \vound  he  died. 

When  Colonel  Campbell,  who  commanded  the  redoubt, 
advanced  to  surrender,  a  captain,  who  had  served  under 
Scammel,  seized  a  bayonet,  and  drew  back  with  the  in 
tent  of  plunging  it  into  his  breast,  when  Hamilton  turned 
it  aside,  and  Campbell,  exclaiming. 

UI  place  myself  under  your  protection,"  was  made  pris 
oner  by  Laurens. 

While  receiving  the  warmest  expressions  of  admiration 


156  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

from  the  whole  army,  Hamilton,  thus  modestly,  in  a  let 
ter  written  to  soothe  the  anxiety  of  his  wife,  adverts  to 
what  had  passed.  "Two  nights  ago,  my  Eliza,  my  duty 
and  my  honour  obliged  me  to  take  a  step  in  which  your 
happiness  was  too  much  risked.  I  commanded  an  attack 
upon  one  of  the  enemy's  redoubts;  we  carried  it  in  an 
instant,  and  with  little  loss.  You  will  see  the  particu 
lars  in  the  Philadelphia  papers.  There  will  be,  certain 
ly,  nothing  more  of  this  kind;  all  the  rest  will  be  by  ap 
proach;  and  if  there  should  be  another  occasion,  it  will 
not  fall  to  my  turn  to  execute  it." 

Washington,  having  concerted  measures  for  the  next 
campaign  in  a  personal  interview  with  congress,  revisited 
Mount  Vernon,  loaded  with  laurels,  and  crowned  with 
glory,  while  Hamilton  returned  on  furlough  to  his  home. 

Gratifying  as  had  been  the  result  of  this  campaign, 
which  sealed  the  national  independence,  and  proud  as 
were  his  reflections  in  reviewing  the  long  series  of  ser 
vices  he  had  rendered  his  country,  and  in  being  connect 
ed  so  conspicuously  with  an  event  which  may  be  regard 
ed  as  the  closing  scene  of  the  revolution,  yet  those  reflec 
tions  were  not  unmingled  with  others  of  a  deeply  painful 
character.  Though,  with  every  uncorrupted  mind,  he 
deplored  the  miseries  of  war,  yet  long  service  had  con 
firmed  in  his  bosom  a  fondness  for  military  life.  As  an 
eloquent  friend  has  well  remarked,  "his  early  education 
was  in  the  camp;  there  his  earliest  and  most  cordial 
friendships  were  formed;  there  he  became  enamoured  of 
glory,  and  was  admitted  to  her  embrace."  This  life  was 
now  soon  to  end,  and  those  friendships,  so  warmly  cher- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  157 

ished,  could  be  cultivated  only  at  intervals.  Know 
ing  also  that  the  army  was  not  a  favourite  of  con 
gress,  he  could  not  but  survey  for  the  last  time,  with 
pain,  the  war-worn  faces  of  those  faithful  men,  who, 
while  winning  the  liberties  of  their  country,  had  won  for 
her  such  imperishable  renown,  requited,  as  he  felt  they 
were  to  be,  by  the  grossest  ingratitude. 

Of  his  immediate  companions  in  the  family  of  Wash 
ington,  with  two  he  had  already  parted.  Early  in  the 
year,  Meade,  who  had  recently  married,  retired  from  the 
service,  and  except  by  his  gallantry  in  rushing  to  the 
aid  of  Steuben,  and  repulsing  the  advances  of  Arnold 
from  his  native  state,  was  no  longer  known  as  a  public 
man. 

The  "Old  Secretary,"  Harrison,  as  he  was  familiarly 
called,  left  the  army  the  previous  spring,  having  been 
appointed  by  the  state  of  Maryland,  Chief  Justice  of  its 
Supreme  Court;  which  situation  he  filled  until  the  adopt 
ion  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  when  such  was  Wash 
ington's  estimate  of  the  claims  of  this  meritorious  indi 
vidual  upon  his  country,  that  he  nominated  him  a  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  immediately 
after  its  organization, which  he  declined. — J.C.Hamilton. 

THE, BOSTON    LATIN   SCHOOL. 

Hamilton  attended   a  grammar  school  at  Elizabeth 
town,  N.  J.     The  most  famous  boys'  school  of  that  per 
iod,    however,  was  the   Boston   Latin   School.      It  was 
the  first  public  school  in  Boston.     It  was  the  beginning 
of  the  public  school  system  of  that  city,  whose  origin  is 


I58 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


found  in  the  following  order,  adopted  by  the  freemen  of 
the  town,  on  the  I3th  of  April,  1635: 

"Likewise  it  was  then  generally  agreed  upon,  that  out 
brother,  Philemon 
Purmont,  shall  be  en 
treated  to  become 
schoolmaster  for  the 
teaching  and  nurtur 
ing  of  children  with 
us." 

This  Public  Latin 
School  has  been  con 
tinued  to  the  pres 
ent  day.  Its  chief 
function  during  the 
whole  period  of  its 
existence  has  been 
the  fitting  of  boys  for 
Harvard  College,now 
Harvard  University. 
Until  1682  this  was 

the  only  school  in  Boston.  In  that  year  it  was  voted  in 
town  meeting,  uthat  a  committee  with  the  selectmen 
consider  and  provide  one  or  more  free  schools  for  the 
teaching  of  children  to  write  and  cipher  within  this 
town."  Afterwards  schools  were  established  for  reading 
and  spelling.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  public 
school  system  began  with  discrimination  against  the 
girls.  Pupils  were  not  admitted  to  these  schools  until 
they  were  seven  years  of  age;  and  girls  were  not  admit- 


Old  Boston  Latin  School,  on 
School  St..  Boston. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  159 

ted  until  1789,  and  for  forty  years  afterwards  were  per 
mitted  to  attend  for  only  half  the  year,  from  April  to 
October. 

Some  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  Boston   were  edu- 


Boys'  Latin  School,  Boston,  of  To-Day. 

cated  in  the  Latin  School — Samuel  Adams,  James  Otis, 
and  John  Hancock  being  among  the  number. 

i   THE  FIRST  PRAYER  IN  CONGRESS. 

The  Hon.  Rufus  King  narrates  these  particulars  re 
garding  the  first  prayer  in  congress: 

"The  convention  of  1788,  of  which  Dr.  Franklin  and 
myself  were  members,  had  been  engaged  several  weeks 
in  framing  the  present  Constitution,  and  had  done  noth 
ing.  Dr.  Franklin  came  in  one  morning,  and,  rising  itf 
his  place,  called  the  attention  of  the  house. 


i6o 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON. 


"'We  have  been  here,  Mr.  Speaker,'  said  he  (Georg. 
Washington  was  in  the  chair,)  'a  long  time,  trying  tc 
act  on  this  important  subject,  and  have  done  nothing; 
and  in  place  of  a  speedy  and  successful  close  of  our  bus 
iness,  we  see  nothing  but  dark  clouds  of  difficulty  and 
embarrassment  before  us.  It  is  high  time  for  us,  -Mr. 
Speaker,  to  call  in  the  direction 
of  a  wisdom  above  our  own. 
(The  countenance  of  Washington 
caught  a  brightness  at  these  words, 
as  he  leaned  forward  in  deepest 
gaze  on  Dr.  Franklin.)  Yes,  sir, 
it  is  high  time  for  us  to  call  in  the 
direction  of  a  wisdom  above  our 
own. 

'"Our   fathers    before   us,    the 
wise   and    good   men   of  ancient 
times,  acted  in  this  way.      Aware      Born  1755'    Died  1827' 
of  the  difficulties  and  perils  that  attend  all  human  en* 
terprise,  they  never  engaged  in  anything  of  importance 
without  having  implored   the  guidance  and  blessing  of 
heaven. 

"  'The  scriptures  are  full  of  encouragements  to  such 
practice.  They  everywhere  assert  a  particular  provi 
dence  over  all  His  works.  They  assure  us  that  the  very 
hairs  of  our  head  are  all  numbered;  and  that  not  even  a 
sparrow  but  is  continually  under  the  eye  of  His  parental 
care. 

*'  'This,  Mr.  Speaker,  is  the  language  of  the  gospel, 
which  I  most  implicitly  believe;  and  which  promises 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  161 

guidance  of  divine  wisdom  to  all  who  ask  it.  We  have 
not  asked  it;  and  that  may  be  the  reason  why  we  have 
been  so  long  in  the  dark. 

u  'I  therefore  move,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  it  be  made  a 
rule  to  open  the  business  of  this  house,  every  morning, 
with  prayer  " 

HAMILTON  AND  THE  RATIFICATION   OF  THE   CONSTITU 
TION  BY  NEW  YORK. 

When  the  convention  met  at  Poughkeepsie,  eight  states 
had  ratified  the  Constitution.  It  required  the  consent  of 
only  one  more  to  put  it  in  operation. 

On  the  24th  of  June  the  swift  couriers,  arranged  by 
Hamilton,  brought  word  from  Concord  to  Poughkeepsie 
that  New  Hampshire  had  ratified  the  Constitution. 

Hamilton  had  taken  this  pains  in  the  hope  that  the 
news  of  the  approval  of  the  ninths  tate  would  have  a  fav 
orable  effect  on  the  New  York  convention. 

But  the  opponents  of  a  national  government  remained 
unmoved.  Even  the  news  of  the  ratification  by  Virgin 
ia  produced  no  change. 

The  final  struggle  came  on  propositions  for  a  condit 
ional  ratification.  The  first  provided  for  a  ratification  on 
condition  that  certain  amendments  were  previously 
adopted. 

After  debate  this  was  seen  to  be  impracticable,  and 
was  withdrawn. 

Then  came  the  proposition  for  ratification  on  condition 
that  if  certain  amendments  were  not  made  within  a  giv 
en  time,  the  state  should  have  a  right  to  withdraw  from 


162  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

the  Union.  There  was  great  danger  that  this  proposi 
tion,  which  to  many  looked  so  plausible,  but  which  was 
really  as  impracticable  as  the  first,  might  be  adopted. 

It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  that  a  friend 
from  New  York  City  called  on  Hamilton. 

"I  found  him,"  he  says,  "alone,  and  took  the  liberty 
to  say  to  him  that  they  would  inquire  of  me  in  New 
York,  what  was  the  prospect  in  relation  to  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution;  and  asked  him  what  I  should  say  to 
them. 

"His  manner  immediately  changed,  and  he  answered: 

"  'God  only  knows,  several  votes  have  been  taken,  by 
which  it  appears  that  there  are  two  to  one  against  us.' 

"Supposing  he  had  concluded  his  answer,  I  was  about 
to  retire,  when  he  added,  in  a  most  emphatic  manner: 

u  'Tell  them  that  the  convention  shall  never  rise  until 
the  Constitution  is  adopted.'  " 

With  this  resolute  spirit,  Hamilton  went  back  to  the 
contest  and  made  another  speech,  so  powerful,  so  impas 
sioned,  so  convincing,  that  at  its  close  Melancthon  Smith, 
the  leader  of  the  opposition,had  the  manliness  to  acknowl 
edge  that  the  arguments  of  Hamilton  were  unanswera 
ble,  and  that  he  should  vote  for  ratification. 

In  vain  Gov.  Clinton  attempted  to  rally  his  forces. 

Smith  carried  so  many  of  his  followers  with  him  that 
when  the  final  vote  was  taken,  on  the  25th  of  July,  by  a 
majority  of  three  votes,  the  Constitution  was  adopted. — 
Lewis  Henry  Boutell. 

TRIBUTE  OF  GUIZOT  TO  HAMILTON. 

"Hamilton  must  be  classed  among  the  men  who  have 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  l6>3 

best  known  the  vital  principles  and  fundamental  condi 
tions  of  a  government. 

"There  is  not  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
an  element  of  order,  of  force,  of  duration,  which  he  has 
not  powerfully  contributed  to  introduce  into  it,  and  to 
cause  to  predominate." 

PROF.   BRYCE  ON  HAMILTON. 

"One  cannot  note  the  disappearance  of  this  brilliant 
figure,  to  Europeans  the  most  interesting  in  the  earlier 
history  of  the  republic,  without  the  remark  that  his  coun 
trymen  seem  to  have  never,  either  in  his  lifetime  or  af 
terward,  duly  recognized  his  splendid  gifts. 

"Washington  is,  indeed,  a  far  more  perfect  character. 

uWashington  stands  alone  and  unapproachable,  like  a 
snow-peak  rising  above  its  fellows  into  the  clear  air  of 
morning,  with  a  dignity,  constancy  and  purity  which 
have  made  him  the  ideal  type  of  civic  virtue  to  succeed 
ing  generations. 

*  'No  greater  benefit  could  have  befallen  the  republic 
than  to  have  such  a  type  set  from  the  first  before  the  eye 
and  mind  of  the  people. 

"But  Hamilton,  of  a  virtue  not  so  flawless,  touches  us 
more  nearly,  not  only  by  the  romance  of  his  early  life 
and  his  tragic  death,  but  by  a  certain  ardor  and  impul 
siveness,  and  even  tenderness  of  soul,  joined  to  a  courage 
equal  to  that  of  Washington  himself.  Equally  apt  for 
war  and  for  civil  government,  with  a  profundity  and  am 
plitude  of  view  rare  in  practical  soldiers  or  statesmen,  he 
stood  in  the  front  rank  of  a  generation  never  surpassed 


164  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

in  history,  a  generation  which  includes  Burke  and  Fox, 
and  Pitt  and  Grattan,  Stein  and  Hardenburg  and  Wil 
liam  von  Humboldt,  Wellington  and  Napoleon. " — "The 
Anerican  Commonwealth" 

SCHMUCKER'S  TRIBUTE  TO  HAMILTON. 
The  premature  death  of  Hamilton  was  a  national  ca 
lamity.  It  is  not  diffiicult  to  predict  to  what  exalted 
posts  of  honor  he  would  have  been  promoted,  had  he 
lived.  Possessing,  as  he  did,  the  full  confidence  of  the 
nation,  having  filled  important  offices  of  trust  with  the 
purest  integrity  and  the  highest  praise;  being  devoted  to 
the  interests  of  his  country;  his  faculties  being  matured 
by  experience,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  na 
tion  enlarged  by  study  and  observation ;  it  is  not  improb 
able  that  a  very  few  years  would  have  seen  him  occupy 
ing  the  presidential  chair.  And  if,  as  was  probable,  that 
event  occurred  during  the  existence  of  the  war  of  1812, 
Mr.  Hamilton  would,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  have  been 
commander-in-chief  of  the  American  armies;  and  it  is 
but  a  reasonable  inference  to  suppose  that  his  military 
genius  would  have  shone  forth  in  that  great  crisis  more 
resplendent  than  ever.  In  a  word,  the  completed  and 
fully  consummated  career  of  Alexander  Hamilton  would 
without  much  doubt  have  been  the  brightest,  loftiest, 
and  noblest  presented  in  the  whole  range  of  American 
history.  All  this  fair  picture  was  spoiled  by  the  malig 
nity  of  his  bitterest  foe,  Aaron  Burr.  A  nation's  tears 
were  shed  over  the  grave  of  his  illustrious  victim,  and 
the  undying  curses  of  all  virtuous  men,  in  all  coming 
time,  were  secured  to  the  perpetrator  of  his  murder. 


ALEXANDER    HAMILTON.  16; 

THE  STORY  OF  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON, 

FOR  A  SCHOOL  OR  CLUB  PROGRAMME. 

Each  numbered  paragraph  is  to  be  given  to  a  pupil  or 
member  to  read,  or  to  recite,  in  a  clear,  distinct  tone. 

If  the  school  or  club  is  small,  each  person  may  take 
three  or  four  paragraphs,  but  should  not  be  required  to 
recite  them  in  succession. 

1.  Alexander  Hamilton  was  born  on  the  island  of  Nevis,  in  the 
British  West  Indies,  on  the  eleventh  of  January,  1757. 

2.  His  father,  James  Hamilton,  was  a  Scotch  merchant,  and  his 
mother,  a  French  lady,  descended  from  that  noble  people,  the  Hu 
guenots. 

3.  "This  happy  blending  of  contrasted  elements  in  the  original 
source  of  his  blood  and  character — solidity  and  enthusiasm,  sagacity 
to  project  theories  and  facility  in  their  execution — was  exemplified  in 
all  his  subsequent  career." 

4.  His  father  was  unfortunate  in  business  and  died  in  penury. 
His  mother  was  noted  for  elegant  manners  and  a   strong   intellect, 
which  made   a   vivid  impression  upon  her  son.     Both  parents  died 
while  he  was  but  a  child. 

5.  He  was  early  thrown  upon  the  care  of  his  mother's  relatives, 
and  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  childhood  and  youth  in  the  Danish 
island  of  Santa  Cruz. 

6.  "He  soon  learned  to  speak  and  write  the  French  language 
fluently,  and  was  taught  to  speak  the  Decalogue  in  Hebrew  at  the 
school  of  a  Jewess,  when  so  small,  that  he  was  placed  standing  by  her 
side  at  the  table." 

7.  His   education,  though   brief  and  desultory,  was  conducted 
chiefly  under  the  supervision  of  the  Rev.  Hugh  Knox,  D.  D.,  a  Pres 
byterian   clergyman.     This  gentleman  gave  to  the  mind  of  his  aspir 
ing  pupil  a  religious  bias  as  lasting  as  his  life. 

8.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  the  boy,  and  kept  up  an  affection 
ate  correspondence  with  him  in  after  years. 

9.  Before  Hamilton  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  he  had  to  earn  his 
own  living,  and  was  placed,  accordingly, in  the  counting  house  of  Mr. 
Nicholas  Cruger,  a  wealthy  and  highly  respectable  merchant  of  San 
ta  Cruz. 

10.  He  became  speedily  noted  for  his  quickness,  zeal  and  assid 
uity,  and  for  remarkable  intelligence  in  the  despatch  of  business. 


1 66  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

11.  While  boys  of  his  age  were  thinking  of  marbles  and  other 
games,  Hamilton  was  thinking  of  the  future  with  a  laudable  ambition 
to  make  his  career  a  bright  and  successful  one. 

12.  He  wrote,  soon  after  being  appointed  to  this  position,  to  a 
young  friend  at  school,  as  follows:   "I  contemn  the   groveling  condi 
tion  of  a  clerk  to  which  my  fortune  condemns  me,  and  would  willing 
ly  risk  my  life  though  not  my  character,  to  exalt  my  station.     I  mean 
to  prepare  the  way  for  futurity." 

13.  "Herein  gleams  the  true  fire  of  a  noble  youth;  love  of  fame, 
and  the  strongest  attachment  to  untarnished  integrity;  guarantees  of 
splendid  success,  which  in  this  instance  were  never  disproved  by 
facts." 

14.  His  business  letters,  many  of  which  have  been  preserved, 
would  have  done  credit  to  any  trained  clerk  of  any  age.    Such  was 
the  confidence  of  his  employer  in  this  mere  child,  that  he  apparently 
left  him  time  and  again  in  charge  of  all  the  affairs  of  his  counting 
house. 

15.  While  in  Mr.  Cruger's  office  young  Hamilton  spent  every 
spare  moment  in  studying  mathematics,  ethics,  chemistry,  biography 
and  history,  and  in  storing  his  mind  with  knowledge  of  every  kind. 

16.  A  great  hurricane,  long  remembered  for  the  destruction  it 
caused,  devastated  the  island.    The  boy  wrote  and  published  anony 
mously  such  a  vivid  and  strong  description  of  it,  that  it  attracted  gen 
eral  attention,  and  the  young  author  was  discovered. 

17.  Through  the  influence  of  Dr.  Knox,  several  relatives  and 
friends  joined  together  in  providing  funds  for  a  college  education  for 
the  promising  lad. 

18.  He  was  accordingly  sent  in  the  autumn  of  1772  to  Elizabeth- 
town,  New  Jersey,  to  prepare  for  King's  College  (now  Columbia  Uni 
versity),  in  New  York  City,  under  the  instruction  of  Francis  Barber. 
This  teacher  afterwards  became  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  Ameri 
can  service. 

19.  Hamilton  entered  King's  College  in  the  latter  part  of  1773, 
and  with  the  aid  of  a  tutor  made  remarkable  progress,  directing  his 
studies  towards  the  profession  of  medicine. 

20.  The  difficulties  with  England  were  rapidly  ripening,  and  his 
versatile  pen  was  employed  in  the  production  of  elaborate  pamphlets 
and  minor  tracts  upon  the  burning  questions  of  the  day. 

21.  These  writings,  published  anonymously,  were  so  remarkable 
that  they  were  attributed  to  Jay  and  other  well  known  patriots. 

22.  They  involved  their  author  in  a  controversy  with  Dr.  Cooper, 
the  President  of  the  College,  and  with  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
royalists  of  the  land. 

23.  When  the  name  of  the  youthful  champion  was  proclaimed, 
Dr.  Cooper  would  not  believe  at  first  that  his  able  opponent  was  but 
a  mere  boy  of  seventeen  or  eighteen. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  167 

24.  When  a  great  public  meeting  was  held  in  the  "Fields" — now 
the  City  Hall  Park — he  pushed  his   way  to  the  front,  and   mounting 
the  platform,  astounded  the  vast  audience  by  his  eloquent  and  fervid 
speech  in  behalf  of  colonial  rights. 

25.  While  in  College  he  organized  a  military  company  of  his  fel 
low  students.     They  styled  themselves  "Hearts  of  Oak,"  and  wore  a 
green  uniform,  surmounted  by  a  leathern  cap,  on  which  was  inscribed, 
"Freedom  or  Death." 

26.  Having  already  become  a  recognized  leader  in  New  York, 
he  was  made  captain  of  the  company  of  artillery  raised  by  that  prov 
ince,  and  at  once  entered  upon  active  service. 

27.  He  soon  had  a  body  of  men  that  furnished  a  model  for  dis 
cipline   and   efficiency,   and  which  won  the  high  praise  of  General 
Greene. 

28.  At  Long  Island  and  White  Plains,  his  company  greatly  dis 
tinguished  itself,  and  his  gallant  conduct  in  the  latter  battle  attracted 
the  attention  of  Washington,  the  commander-in-chief. 

29.  During  the  retreat  through  New  Jersey,  his  battery  was  fre 
quently  engaged  in  firm  and  heroical  action  with  the  enemy,  and  on 
one  occasion  he  repelled  the  progress  of  the  British  troops  on  the 
banks  of  the  Raritan. 

30.  He   fought  at  the  head  of  his  brave  command  at  Trenton 
and  Princeton,  and  continued  with  them  until  he  was  appointed  by 
Washington  to  an  important  place  on  his  staff  with  the  rank  of  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel,  and  became  his  inseparable  companion. 

31.  "Strangers,"  said  Washington  Irving,  "were  surprised  to  see 
a  youth,  scarce  twenty  years  of  age,  received  into  the  implicit  confi 
dence  and  admitted  into  the  gravest  counsels  of  a  man  like  Washing 
ton." 

32.  "Harrison,  'the  old  secretary,'  much  his  senior,  looked  upon 
him  with  an  almost  paternal  eye,  and  regarding  his  diminutive  size 
and  towering  spirit,  used  to  call  him  'the  little  lion,'  while  Washing 
ton  would  now  and  then  speak  of  him  by  the  cherishing  appellation 
of  'my  boy'." 

33.  Hamilton  served  as  aide  to  Washington  at  the  battles  of 
Brandy-wine.   Germantown  and    Monmouth.    At  his  own  request  he 
led  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  the  force  which  carried  by  assault  one 
of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  the  foe. 

34.  On  the  fourteenth  of  December,  1780,  he  married  Miss  Eliz 
abeth  Schuyler,  the  second  daughter  of  Major  General  Schuyler.  and 
"so  became  connected  with  a  rich  and  powerful  New  York  family, 
which  was  of  great  advantage  to  him  in  many  ways." 

35.  Hamilton  was  the  first  to  receive  the  papers  revealing  Ar 
nold's  treason,  and  tried  to  intercept  the  traitor  at  Verplanck's  point, 
but  was  too  late  to  catch  him. 


1 68  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

36.  Hamilton  ceased  to  be  a  member  of  Washington's  military 
family  on  the  tenth  of  February,  1781,  in  consequence  of  a  misunder 
standing  with  the  commander-in-chief,  in  which  the  youthful  Colonel 
was  clearly  in  the  wrong.     The  coolness  between  the  two  was,  how 
ever,  but  temporary. 

37.  At  Yorktown,  in  command  of  a  light   corps  of  infantry,  he 
brilliantly  led  a  storming  party  which  took  one   of   the    British   re 
doubts;  and  saved  the  life  of  the  Major,  commanding  the  opposing 
forces. 

38.  When  but  twenty-three  years  old  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
James  Duane  and  Robert  Morris,  in  which  were  outlined  the  general 
features  of  the  system  finally  adopted  by  the  United  States. 

39.  He  was  appointed  by  Robert  Morris  receiver  of  taxes  for 
New  York,  and  was  afterwards  elected  one   of  the  delegates   from 
New  York  to  Congress. 

40.  Hamilton  at  once  became  one  of  its  leading  members.    One 
of  the  delegates  said  to  him,  "If  you  were  but  ten  years  older  and  a 
thousand  pounds  richer,  Congress  would  give  you  the  highest  place 
they  have  to  bestow." 

41.  He  conceived  and  started  "The  Federalist,"  in  which  were 
contained  those  famous  essays  which  have  immortalized  his  name. 

42.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Federal  convention  of  1787, 
when  thirty  years  of  age,  and  by  his  wonderful   eloquence,  skill  and 
management,  triumphantly  carried  the  ratification  of  the  constitution. 

43.  While  in  the  New  York  Legislature  of  1787,  he  secured  the 
amendment  of  the  Criminal  Code;  the  establishment  of  the  Univer 
sity  of  New  York,  and  a  general  system  of  public  instruction. 

44.  When  the  Treasury  Department  was  organized  in  Septem 
ber,  1789,  the  first  year  of  Washington's  administration,  Hamilton  was 
placed  at  its  head. 

45.  "In  the  five  years  that  ensued,  he  did  the  work  that  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  our  system  of  administration,  gave  life  and  mean 
ing  to  the  constitution,  and  by  his  policy  developed  two  great  politi 
cal  parties." 

46.  By  his  reports  and  communications  on  the  Public  Credit;  on 
the  raising  and  collection  of  the  revenue;  on  estimates  of  income  and 
expenditure;    on  the  temporary  regulation  of  the  currency;    on  navi 
gation  laws  and  coasting  trade;    on  the  Post  Office;    on  the  purchase 
of  West  Point;  on  the  management  of  the  public  lands;  on  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  mint;  on  manufactures;  on  the  protective  policy  of  the 
United  States,  etc.,  he  revealed  his  consummate  genius  and  masterly 
ability. 

47.  While  in  the  cabinet  disagreements  arose  between  Jefferson 
and  himself,  which  caused  the  active  existence  of  two  great  political 
parties,  the  Federalists  and  Anti-Federalists,  or  Democrats,  and  the 
resignation  of  Jefferson  as  Secretary  of  State. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  169 

48.  The  influence  of  Hamilton  was  so  very  great  that  he  may  be 
said  to  have  controlled  the  policy  of  Washington's  administration. 

49.  On  the  thirty-first  of  January,  1795,  he  resigned  his  Secreta 
ryship  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  and  soon  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  bar  of  New  York.     But  he  was  constantly  consulted  by  Washing 
ton  as  though  he  were  still  in  office. 

50.  In  1794  Washington  offered  him  the  position  of  minister  to 
England,  which,  for  prudential  reasons,  he  declined. 

51.  When  the  troubles  with  France  began  under  the  administra 
tion  of  John  Adams,  Hamilton  became  the  leader  of  the  party  which 
desired  war  with  that  country. 

52.  When  Congress  ordered  the  raising  of  a  provisional  army 
with  Washington  as  commander-in-chief,  Hamilton  was  given  the  po 
sition  of  Inspector-General,  to  act  as  the  Senior  Major-General  of  the 
new  orgazization. 

53.  Hamilton  fully  expected  war,  but  President  Adams  met  the 
French   overtures   of   peace   in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  a  conflict  was 
averted. 

54.  This  so  deeply  affected  Hamilton  that  he  became  the  avowed 
enemy  of  Adams,  and  in  his  efforts  to  overthrow  the  President,  des 
troyed  his  own  party. 

55.  He  helped  to  defeat  Aaron  Burr  for  the  Presidency  by  using 
his  great  influence  to  elect  Thomas  Jefferson. 

56.  Aaron  Burr  was  also  beaten  by  Hamilton's  influence  for  the 
governorship  of  New  York.     The  life-long  quarrel  between  the  two 
men  led  to  a  challenge  by  Burr  to  fight  a  duel. 

57.  Very   reluctantly    Hamilton   consented,  on    account   of  the 
point  of  honor  which  would  be  raised  if  he  refused,  and  was  mortally 
wounded  by  his  antagonist  on  the  eleventh  of  July,  1804,  at  Weehawk- 
ken,  on  the'banks  of  the  Hudson. 

58.  His  tragic  fate  raised  such  a  storm  of  indignation  and  grief,, 
that  Burr  was  driven  forth  as  a  murderer,  an  outcast  and  a  conspira 
tor. 

59.  Thus  died  Hamilton,  universally  regretted.   "He  was  the  in 
defatigable  soldier  of  the  press,  the  pen  and  the  army." 

60.  He    was  "the   American   master  of  political    sagacity,  the 
most  brilliant  statesman  our  country  has  produced." 

61.  "In  his  family  and  among  his  friends  he  was  deeply  beloved 
and  almost  blindly  followed.     His  errors  and  his  faults  came  from 
his  strong,  passionate  nature,  and  his  masterly  will  impatient  of  re 
sistance  or  control. 

62.  "Yet  these  were  the  very  qualities  that  carried  him  forward 
to  his  triumphs,  and  enabled  him  to  perform  services  to  the  American 
people  which  can  never  be  forgotten. 


170  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

63.  With  great  pomp  and  ceremony  his  remains  were  sorrow 
fully  laid  away  to  rest  in  Trinity  Churchyard,  New  York,  on  the 
fourteenth  of  July,  1804.  Above  them  a  beautiful  and  appropriate 
monument  has  been  placed. 


AN  EVENING  WITH  HAMILTON. 

1.  Music. 

2.  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Early  Life  of  Hamilton. 

3.  Tributes  from  Various  Writers  to  the  Virtues  of  Hamilton. 

4.  Vocal  or  Instrumental  Music. 

5.  Discussion — Whether  Hamilton  was  more  Potential  than  Jef 
ferson  in  the  History  of  the  United  States. 

6.  The  Character  of  Aaron  Burr. 

7.  Music. 

8.  Discussion — Defense  of  Hamilton  in  Accepting  the  Challenge 
of  Burr. 

9.  Essay — Hamilton's  Love  for  his  Country. 
10.     Music — America. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW. 

Where  was  Alexander  Hamilton  born?  What  is  said  of  his  pre 
cocity  ?  Of  his  preparation  for  college  ?  Of  the  condition  of  the  A  mer- 
ic  an  colonies?  Of  Hamilton  s  first  publication?  Of  the  work  that 
followed  it?  What  was  his  first  effort  in  military  affairs? 

What  was  Hamilton  s  opinion  of  the  Quaker  General,  Nathaniel 
Greene?  What  part  did  Hamilton  have  in  the  disaster  on  Long 
Island?  What  can  you  say  of  the  artillery  company  ?  What  of  the 
retreat  through  New  Jersey?  How  many  of  his  artillery  men  were 
left  after  Trenton  and  Princeton?  Why  did  Washington  appoint 
him  as  one  of  his  aids?  When  was  this  appointment  made? 

What  was  his  conduct  in  subsequent  battles?  What  of  his  merits 
while  in  the  service  of  Washington  ?  With  what  brilliant  exploit  did 
Hamilton  s  military  career  terminate?  When,  in  his  opinion,  was 
the  most  trying  time  for  the  colonies? 

What  was  Hamilton's  opinion  of  the  currency?  What  remedy 
did  he  Propose?  When  was  he  married?  What  can  you  say  of  his 
bride?  When  was  he  admitted  to  the  bar?  When  did  he  take  his  seat 
in  Congress  ?  What  can  you  say  of  the  U.  S.  Congress  at  that  time  ? 
What  was  his  conduct  toward  the  Tories  after  the  close  of  the  war? 
What  was  the  condition  of  the  country  between  the  close  of  the  Revo 
lution  and  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution?  In  what  shape  i*id  tht 
warning  come  ?  What  effort  towards  united  action  was  madt*  by  vc* 
rious  States? 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  171 

What  was  Hamilton  s  attitude  toward  Governor  Clinton  ?  Where 
did  his  conspicuous  ability  appear  to  have  the  best  effect?  How  was 
his  best  work  done?  What  was  the  effect  of  his  speech  at  the  opening 
of  the  convention?  What  can  you  say  of  "The  federalist?"  What 
was  the  result  of  Hamilton's  defeat  for  re-election? 

What  was  his  greatest  task  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury?  What 
was  his  age  when  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet?  What  can  you  say 
of  the  financial  scheme  which  he  laid  before  Congress?  For  what  did 
his  policy  provide?  What  is  said  of  the  contrast  of  Hamilton  with 
Jefferson,  Adams,  etc.?  What  is  Professor  Morse  s  statement?  What 
is  said  of  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank  ?  Of  Webster's  tribute  ? 
Of  the  elements  of  opposition  to  Hamilton? 

What  attempt  was  made  to  drive  him  from  the  Cabinet?  What 
is  said  of  the  failings  of  Hamilton  ?  Of  the  pamphlet  he  published  in 
1800?  Of  Governor  Jay  ?  Of  Lafayette?  Of  the  appointment  of  Ham 
ilton  as  General?  Of  the  bill  submitted  by  Hamilton  to  Congress? 
Of  the  Louisiana  territory? 

Of  Miranda?  Of  the  great  qualities  of  a  General  in  Hamilton? 
Of  Lincoln?  Of  Talleyrand?  Of  peace  and  the  feelings  of  Adams? 
Of  the  closing  piib  lie  career  of  Hamilton  ?  Of  his  genius  as  a  lawyer? 

What  encomium  was  pronounced  by  Kent?  What  is  said  of  the 
decaying  Federalist  party  ?  Of  Aaron  Burr  and  of  Jefferson  ?  Of  the 
crowning  defeat  of  Burr?  Of  his  forcing  a  quarrel  with  Hamilton  ? 
Of  Hamilton  s  criticisms  of  Burr?  Of  the  acceptance  of  the  chal 
lenge  from  Burr?  Of  what  preceded  the  duel?  Of  the  duel  and  its 
result? 

Of  Senator  Lodge  s  discussion  of  the  question  ?  Of  the  author  s 
conclusions?  Of  the  unveiling  of  Hamilton  s  statue?  What  tribute 
was  paid  by  Judge  Spencer?  By  Chancellor  Kent? 

What  was  Hamilton  called,  and  why?  How  did  Hamilton  feel 
towards  Andre?  What  did  he  say  of  his  execution?  How  did  the 
disagreement  between  Washington  and  Hamilton  arise?  What  does 
Hamilton  say  of  foreign  influence?  What  is  said  of  Hamilton  and 
the  Constitution?  What  observation  does  R.  C.  Winthrop  make  of 
the  Constitution  ? 

How  is  the  Federalist  regarded?  What  great  productions  are  in 
ferior  to  it?  Upon  what  is  it  founded?  What  does  it  contain  ?  When 
/was  it  first  begun  ?  What  does  Hamilton  say  of  its  Purpose?  What  is 
said  of  the  appreciation  abroad  of  the  Federalist?  What  does  Hamil 
ton  say  of  The  Union?  Of  ancient  and  modern  Repiiblics?  On  na 
tional  emergencies?  On  the  re-election  of  the  President?  On  term  of 
office?  What  tribute  does  Marshall  pay  Hamilton  ? 

What  charges  were  made  against  Washington  ?  What  defense 
did  Hamilton  make?  What  was  the  character  of  Burr?  What  were 
his  chief  agents,  etc.  ?  What  is  said  of  his  political  intrigue  ?  Of  his 
eloquence?  Of  his  love  of  country?  What  was  the  character  of  Ham 
ilton  in  contrast?  What  single  fact  proves  the  worth  of  that  charac 
ter?  What  was  Hamilton  s  protest  against  duelling? 


172  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

When  was  Hamilton  made  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ?  What 
did  Robert  Morris  say  of  him  ?  What  is  said  of  Robert  Troup' s  inter 
view?  Of  Hamilton  s  self-confidence?  With  whom  is  he  compared? 
What  is  the  story  of  Hamilton  at  Valley  Forge?  What  account  is 
given  of  the  Battle  of  York  town  ?  Of  the  Battle  of  Princeton  ? 


SUBJECTS  FOR  SPECIAL  STUDY. 

1.  The  Precocity  of  Alexander  Hamilton. 

2.  Hamilton  as  a  General. 

J.  Hamilton  in  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787. 

4.  Hamilton  s  Early  Views  of  Republicanism. 

J.  The  Articles  of  Confederation—their  Nature  and  Weakness. 

6.  Hamilton  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

7.  The  Vahte  of  the  Federalist  Papers. 

8.  The  Relations  of  John  Adams  to  Hamilton. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  EVENTS  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  ALEXANDER 
HAMILTON. 

1757    Jan.   nth,  Alexander  Hamilton  born  at  Nevis,  one  of  the  An 
tilles  group  of  West  India  Islands. 
1762-69    Educated  in  Santa  Cruz.     Clerk  with  Cruger. 

1772  Aug.    Terrible  hurricane.     Letter  regarding  it. 

Oct.  11,  reached  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  to  study. 

1773  Applied  for  admission  to  Princeton  College  to  take  "Special 

Course."  Refused.  December,  admitted  to  King's  College 
(now  Columbia  University). 

1774  July  6,  made  great  address  at  "The  Fields  Meeting." 

1776  March,  Captain  of  company  of  artillery,  "Hearts  of  Oak."    Au 

gust  27,  Battle  of  Long  Island.  September  75,  Battle  of 
Harlem  Heights.  October  28,  Battle  of  White  Plains,  Chat- 
terton  Hill.  November  and  December,  retreat  through 
New  Jersey.  December  26,  Battle  of  Trenton. 

1777  January  3,  Battle  of  Princeton.     March   15,  Aide-de-Camp    to 

Washington.  Sent  to  Congress  by  Washington,  etc. 
April  5,  Letter  to  the  Provincial  Congress.  July  22,  Remarks 
on  Burgoyne  and  Howe,  etc.  August  4,  Remarks  on  the 
Fall  of  Ticonderoga.  Battle  of  Germantown.  October  30, 
Hamilton  sent  to  Gates  and  Putnam.  November,  Hamilton 
goes  to  Gates  for  troops.  December  19,  exchange  of  prison 
ers  at  Philadelphia;  Hamilton  acting  for  General  Washing 
ton. 

1778  June  18,  Hamilton  urges  attack  on  Howe.     Assigned  to  Lafay 

ette.    June  28,  Battle  of  Monmouth. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  173 

September  5,  Hamilton  in  command  of  a  corps.    October  14, 
Battle  of  Yorktown. 

1779  Submits  plans  of  action  to  Congress. 

1780  Letter  to  Robert  Morris  on  Finance. 

September  and  October.     Arnold  and  Andre  affair.     Letter  to 
Mr.  Duane.     Hamilton  asks  for  a  separate  command. 
December  14,  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Schuyler. 

1781  Declines  to  go  as  envoy  to  France.     February    16,  resigns  as 

aide  to  Washington. 

1782  Resumes   the   study    of   law.     May  2,  Receiver  of  Continental 

Taxes  in  New  York.    Elected  member  of  Congress.   Novem 
ber  25,  takes  his  seat  in  Congress. 

1783  Resumes  the  practice  of  law. 

1786  September  11,    Hamilton   acts   as   Delegate  to  the  Annapolis 

Convention. 

1787  May  14,  Philadelphia  Convention.     Hamilton's  plan. 

June  15,  Poughkeepsie  Convention.    Hamilton's  great  speech 
and  results. 

1788  Adoption  of  the  Constitution,  by  the  ratification  of  New  York. 

Federalist  papers. 

1789  March  4,  Organization  of  the  government.     Hamilton,  Secreta 

ry  of  the  Treasury. 

1794     Refuses  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States. 
1798    December  14,  General-in-Chief  of  the  United  States  Army. 
1804    July  ii.     Duel  with  Aaron  Burr.     July  12.    Death  of  Hamilton. 

July  14.    Burial  in  Trinity  Churchyard,  New  York. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

For  those  who  wish  to  read  extensively  the  following  works  are 
especially  commended. 

"Life  of  Alexander  Hamilton."  2  vols.  By  John  Church  Hamilton. 
New  York.  1834,  1840. 

"Life  of  Alexander  Hamilton."     By  Henry  B.  Renwick.     1841. 

"Life  and  Times  of  Alexander  Hamilton."  By  Samuel  M.  Schmucker. 
Boston.  1856. 

"Life  of  Hamilton."     By  John  T.  Morse,  Jr.      1876. 

"Life  and  Epoch  of  Alexander  Hamilton."  By  George  Shea.  Bos 
ton.  1879. 

"Life  of  Hamilton."     By  Henry  Cabot  Lodge.     1882. 

"Orators  of  the  American  Revolution."  By  E.  L.  Magoon.  Baker  & 
Scribner,  New  York.  1848. 

"Alexander  Hamilton."  By  C.C.  Hazewell.  Atlantic  Monthly.  Vol. 
16,  p.  625. 

"Alexander  Hamilton."  By  Charles  Francis  Adams.  North  Ameri 
can  Review.  Vol.  53,  p.  71. 


yn 

TD 


